V^if 


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Ex  Libris 
C.  K.  OGDEN 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


c 


Copyrighted, 
ROBSON    &    ADEE 

Schenectady,  N.  Y. 


Times  Art   Press, 
Troy,  If.    Y. 


F 


Contents. 


Chapter 

Par.e 

I. 

The  Settlement,            ..... 

17 

II. 

Trade,   Protection,   Customs, 

31 

III. 

Calamities,                    ...... 

49 

IV. 

Ancient  Dwellings,                    .... 

68 

V. 

Churches,                       ..... 

76 

VI. 

Churches,                       ..... 

101 

VII. 

Free  Masonry,              ..... 

117 

VIII. 

An  Historical  Bridge,               .... 

121 

IX. 

Early  Transportation,               .... 

135 

X. 

Glen-Sanders,               ..... 

155 

XI. 

James  Duane,               ..... 

171 

XII. 

Featherstonhaugh,                     .... 

185 

XIII. 

General  William  North,          .... 

205 

XIV. 

Toll,                 ...... 

211 

XV. 

Schermerhorn,                ..... 

229 

XVI. 

Yates  House,                 ..... 

243 

XVII. 

Educational,                  ..... 

247 

XVIII. 

Hotels,             ...... 

» 

267 

XIX. 

Reminiscences,              .                            ... 

273 

List  of  Illustrations. 


The  Old  Glenville  Bridge, 

View  from  Rear  of  Court  House, 

North-East  Corner  Ferry  and  Union  Streets, 

Clute  &  Reagles  Blacksmith  Shop  on  State  Street 

Site  of  the  Old  Fort, 

Plan  of  the  Fort  at  Schenectady, 

Plan  of  the  Fort  at  Schenectady,  1664, 

A  Plan  of  Schenectady,  about  1750, 

Plan  of  the  Fort  at  Schenectady,  1768, 

Abe  Veeder's  Old  Fort, 

Fluting  Iron  from  the  Sanders  Mansion, 

Spinning  Wheel  from  the  Sanders  Mansion, 

Eighteenth  Century  Cut  Glass  in  the  Bradt  Family, 

Corner  of  Washington  Avenue  and  State  Street 

The  Massacre,  January,  1690, 

North  Side  of  State  Street,  near  Washington  A 

Ravine  near  the  DeGraaf  House, 

Scene  of  Beukendaal  Fight, 

DeGraaf  House,  Beukendaal, 

Present  Location  Teller  &  Stanford, 

Protection  Hose  No.  1, 

Burning  of  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 

Mabie  House, 

The  Arent  Bradt  House, 

Bradt  House, 

Miniatures  in  the  Bradt  Family, 

The  Original  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 

A  Church  Furnace  of  200  years  ago, 

Old  Union  College  Building, 

State  Street,  below  Ferry, 


Pagt 

Frontispiece 
16 
24 
32 
36 
38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
51 
52 
56 
58 
59 
62 
64 
66 
69 
70 
72 
73 
79 
81 
84 
92 


List  of  Illustrations. Continued. 


The  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 

Present  Location  Y.  M.  C.  A., 

St.  George's  Episcopal  Church, 

An  Eighteenth  Century  Chair, 

Present  Location  Reeves-LurTman  Co. 

Showing  Construction  of  Glenville  Bridge, 

Bridge  Connecting  Schenectady  and  Scotia, 

City  End  of  Glenville  Bridge, 

Showing  Interior  of  the  Bridge, 

Dock  Street, 

Another  View  of  Dock  Street, 

The  De  Witt  Clinton  Train,      . 

Terminus  of  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railway, 

First  Train  on  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railway, 

First  Time-table  of  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railway, 

Drullerd's  Hotel  and  New  York  Central  Railway  Station, 

First  Railroad  Depot  at  Schenectady, 

An  Old  Style  Locomotive, 

The  Glen-Sanders  Mansion, 

The  Abraham  Glen  House, 

Attic  of  Glen-Sanders  Mansion, 

An  Old  Cradle, 

Sanders  Tablet  in  Allhallows  Church,  London, 

A  Stairway  in  Glen-Sanders  Mansion, 

Ornate  Fire  Bellows, 

Judge  James  Duane, 

Christ's  Episcopal  Church,  Duanesburg, 

A  Quit-Claim  Deed, 

Present  Location  Ellis  Mansions, 

Sarah  Duane, 

General  George  Washington, 

James  Duane  Featherstonhaugh, 

Fireplace  in  Featherstonhaugh  Mansion, 

Featherstonhaugh  Mansion, 

Colonial  Furniture  in  Delancey  Watkins'  House, 


Page 

96 
100 
104 
115 
116 
122 
126 
132 
134 
136 
138 
142 
144 
146 
147 
148 
152 
154 
156 
159 
164 
165 
166 
168 
170 
172 
174 
176 
184 
188 
190 
200 
201 
203 
204 


List  of  Illustrations. Continued. 


General  William  North's  Mansion, 

Indian  Spear  Heads, 

Present  Location  Union  Hall  Block, 

Maalwyck  Farm, 

Chamber  in  the  Toll  House, 

Dining  Room  in  the  Toll  House, 

Ravine  on  the  Toll  Place, 

The  Toll  House, 

Tea  Set  in  the  Toll  House, 

Platter  in  the  Toll  House, 

Present  Location  Myer's  Block, 

Silver  Mounted  Pistol  in  Schermerhorn  Mansion, 

Pear  Tree  150  Years  Old, 

Silver  Quart  Cider  Mug, 

Daniel  Campbell's  City  House, 

Governor  Yates'  House, 

Entrance  to  Residence  of  Hon.  A.  A.  Yates, 

Old-time  Leather  Fire  Bucket, 

The  Mohawk  Bank, 

Schenectady  Academy, 

Entrance  to  Union  College  Campus, 

Dr.  Nott's  Hat  and  Cane, 

Union  College, 

Dr.  Nott's  Stove, 

Blue  Gate,  Union  College, 

Bowery  Woods, 

Present  Location  Edison  Hotel, 

Present  Location  Vendome  Hotel, 

Ledyard's  City  Hotel, 

Givens'  Hotel, 

Original  Plan  for  using  Mohawk  River  as  a  Ship  Canal, 

Dutch  Church  Paper  Money, 


Page 

206 
209 
210 
216 
217 
218 
221 
222 
224 
227 
228 
230 
232 
239 
240 
242 
245 
246 
248 
252 
254 
260 
261 
263 
264 
265 
26(5 
268 
270 
272 
283 
286 


FORE-WORD. 


There  are  a  great  many  interesting  facts, 
traditions,  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  relative 
to  Schenectady,  which  are  buried  from  the 
general  public  in  specialized  histories,  gene- 
alogies, biographies  and  in  the  memories  of 
the  older  residents.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
book  to  present  such  facts,  traditions  and 
reminiscences  as  have  been  dug  out  from  the 
dry,  if  more  profound  and  scholarly,  produc- 
tions of  authors  who  were  masters  on  the 
subjects  upon  which  they  wrote.  Schenectady 
is  so  rich  in  such  material  that  it  has  been 
possible  to  treat  the  subjects  only  partially 
and   casually. 


That  so  many  pictures  of  ancient  buildings,  dwellings 
and  old  time  views  are  presented  to  the  readers  is  entirely 
due  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  William  A.  Wick.  This  collec- 
tion of  ancient  landmarks  that  have  been  torn  down  and  of 
those  still  standing,  has  been  obtained  by  Mr.  Wick  at 
considerable  labor  and  expense.  That  the  collection  is 
unique  is  patent  to  all  who  see  the  pictures. 


OLD  SCHENECTADY. 


Chapter   I. 
The  Settlement. 


MEANING  OF  SCHENECTADY. 

T  IS  an  odd  fact,  frequently  remarked  upon  by  inter- 
ested outsiders,  that  almost  none  of  the  descendants 
of  the  old  Dutch  settlers  of  Schenectady  have  ac- 
knowledge of  the  origin  or  meaning  of  the  name  of 
that  city.  But  if  the  interested  outsider  remains  in 
Schenectady  long,  he  soon  ceases  to  wonder  at  the  lack 
of  knowledge  for  he  finds  that  the  rather  stolid  Dutch 
mind  is  little  given  to  speculation  or  investigation  ; 
that  with  them  if  a  thing  is,  it  is,  and  that  is  enough 
for  all  purposes  of  trade ;  trade  and  the  consequent  accumulation 
of  dollars  being  the  chief  thought  among  them. 

Schenectady  no  doubt  means,  "beyond  the  pine  plains"  and 
"Schonowe,"  a  name  given  to  the  locality  in  the  earliest  days, 
before  and  at  the  time  of  the  settlement,  means  "the  great  flats." 
The  authority  for  these  definitions  is  the  Rev.  W.  M. 
Beattchamp,  S.  D.,  an  Episcopal  clergyman  who  devoted  many 
years  to  the  Iriquios.  or  Five  Nations,  their  language  and  cus- 
toms. He  was  so  highly  regarded  by  the  Indian  survivors  of 
the  Five  Nations  that  he  was  adopted  by  them  and,  as  a  man. 
bore  about  the  same  relation  to  them  that  the  late  Mrs.  Converse 
did  as  a  woman. 

"Beyond  the  pine  plains"  did  not  apply  to  what  is  now  the  site 
of  Schenectady,  any    more    than    to    any  other    place    similarly 


1 8  Old  Schenectady. 

situated ;  in  fact,  it  was  first  applied  to  Albany.  The  immediate 
vicinity  of  Schenectady  on  the  north  and  west  was  extraordinarily 
fertile  river  flats  without  trees  of  any  kind.  This  was  described 
by  the  Indians  as  "Schonowe,"  or  "the  great  flats,"  when  trans- 
lated. Any  other  great  flats  would  have  been  described  by  the 
Indians  by  the  same  word. 

To  the  east  and  south  of  the  great  flats  were  vast  sandv 
plains  covered  with  a  forest  of  immense  pines.  Between  Sche- 
nectady and  Albany  was  a  sandy  plain,  pine  covered,  which 
ended  at  Albany  abruptly  and  equally  so  at  Schenectady.  If  an 
Indian  was  traveling  toward  the  east  over  the  regular  trail,  when 
he  arrived  at  the  Hudson,  on  the  site  of  Albany,  he  called  it 
Schenectady,  that  is,  "the  place  beyond  the  pine  plains."  Other 
Indians,  traveling  west  over  the  trail,  finally  arrived  at  Sche- 
nectady, which  was  also  "the  place  beyond  the  pine  plains."  It 
was  this  place  beyond  the  pine  plains,  at  the  western  end  of  the 
trail  joining  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers,  which  has  retained 
the  descriptive  name  of  Schenectady. 

Another  more  poetic  meaning  is  given  by  Major  J.  W. 
MacMurray,  editor  of  Pearson's  History  of  the  Schenectady 
Patent.  The  authority  he  quotes  says :  "The  usual  signification 
attributed  to  this  word,  is  believed  to  be  erroneous  having  been 
derived,  not  from  the  Mohawk,  but  from  the  Mohegan  language. 
In  the  former  tongue — the  Mohawk — he  says,  'Gaun-ho-ha'  means 
'door';  'S'Gaun-ho-ha'  means  'the  door'  and  'Hac-ta-tie',  means 
'without.'  These  two  words  combined  form,  'S'Gaun-ho-ha-hac- 
ta-tie,'  this  abreviated  and  written,  'S'Guan-hac-ta-tie'  means 
'without  the  door.'  'S'Guan-ho-ha'  appears  also  in  another  name 
given  to  the  town  by  the  Mohawks  at  an  earlier  date.  *  *  *  * 
by  a  conveyance  to  Van  Curler  the  land  is  named  by  the  Indians, 
'Schon-o-we,'  identical  probably  with  'S'Guan-ho-ha,'  in  sound 
and  signification." 

It  would  seem  to  require  a  large  supply  of  Christian  Science 
faith  to  believe  that  these  two  words  are  the  same  in  sound  and 
meaning". 


Meaning  of  Schenectady.  19 

To  arrive  at  the  idea  which  the  Indians  wished  to  convey  by 
the  word,  "S'Gaun-hac-ta-tie,"  "without  the  door,"  something 
must  be  known  about  the  Iriquois  or  Five  Nations. 

The  Five  Nations  occupied  chiefly  the  middle  portion  of 
New  York.  This  confederation  was  composed  of  the  Mohawks, 
Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas  and  Senecas.  Their  territory  ex- 
tended from  the  Mohawk  river  at  Schenectady  on  the  east,  to 
Niagara  river  on  the  west  and  was  spoken  of  in  their  picturesque 
and  figurative  language  as  the  "Long  house,"  or,  sometimes  as 
the  "Cabin."  The  location  of  the  Mohawks  on  the  river  flats 
between  the  high  hills  of  what  is  now  Glenville  and  Rotterdam, 
was  called  "The  Door  of  the  House."  As  the  Mohawks  were  the 
most  powerful  of  the  tribes  and  were  the  furthest  east,  it  was  to 
them  that  embassies  from  other  tribes,  or  the  white  settlers,  were 
sent.  To  the  west  of  the  Mohawks,  at  about  the  center  of  the 
State,  were  the  Oneidas,  Onondagas  and  Cayugas,  while  at  the 
extreme  west,  on  Niagara  river,  were  the  Senecas. 

The  attention  paid  to  form  and  ceremony  was  shown  when  the 
Governor  of  Canada  attempted  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  Senecas 
by  sending  an  ambassador  to  the  Senecas  directly,  instead  of  by 
way  of  the  "Door."  The  Mohawks  resented  this  as  an  indignity 
and  a  slight,  so  they  sent  word  to  the  Governor  that,  while  they 
were  "The  Door  of  the  House"  he  had  entered  by  the  "Chimney," 
and  he  would  better  look  out  or  he  would  get  smoke  in  his  eyes. 

It  is  a  tradition  that  for  many  generations,  perhaps  centuries, 
the  site  of  the  chief  village  of  the  Mohawks  was  the  spot  where 
Schenectady  is  and  their  location  being  the  door  of  the  house, 
they  called  their  village  "S'Gaun-ho-ha,"  meaning  "the  door." 
When  their  chief  village  was  moved  to  the  west,  where  Fort 
Hunter  now  is,  their  old  site  was  no  longer  "the  door,"  but  "with- 
out the  door,"  so  "ho-ha"  was  dropped  and  "hac-ta-tie,"  meaning 
"without,"  was  added  to  the  first  syllable  making  "S'Gaun-hac- 
ta-tie" — "Without  the  Door." 

Danker  and  Sluyter,  in  their  journal  of  1680,  make  a  very 
pretty  play  upon  the  word,  or  else  it  is  a  curious  coincidence. 


20  Old  Schenectady. 

The  immediate  neighborhood  of  Schenectady  was,  and  still  is 
very  beautiful.  The  scenery  is  of  the  kind  which  is  peaceful  and 
restful  and  the  weary  traveler  or  pioneer  must  indeed  have  been 
impressed,  when  the  pines  suddenly  ceased,  and  he  beheld  the 
lovely  valley.  So  these  old  boys  in  their  journal  describe  the  place 
as,  "This  Schooneetendeel,"  which  by  a  very  slight  stretch  of 
imagination  is  similar  to  the  eye  and  ear  to  the  Indian  word. 
Now  in  the  Dutch,  "schoon"  means,  "beautiful ;"  eeten,"  from 
"achten,"  meaning,  "esteemed"  or  "valuable;"  "deel,"  or  "del," 
meaning,  "a  portion  of  land,"  especially  a  valley ;  hence,  a  beauti- 
ful, fertile  valley. 

Some  of  the  spellings  of  Schenectady  show  that  the  early 
settlers  were  probably  of  the  same  opinion  as  was  President  Andy 
Johnson  who,  when  called  to  account  for  his  faulty  orthography 
replied,  that  he  regarded  a  person  as  being  something  of  a  fool 
who  did  not  know  enough  to  spell  a  word  in  more  than  one  way. 
The  Dutch  found  the  Indian  gutterals  hard  to  pronounce  and 
much  harder  to  express  in  letters,  so  when  the  spelling  had  to  be 
done  by  ear  and  not  by  actual  knowledge,  it  was  often  very  much 
off.  Besides  the  original  Indian  word  and  its  Indian  corruption 
already  given,  Arent  Van  Curler,  the  pioneer  of  Schenectady  and 
the  country  roundabout,  made  it,  "Schan-ech-stede."  An  official 
document  of  1664  gives,  both  "Sch-augh-stede"  and  "Sch-auech- 
stede."  It  is  probably  from  the  former  spelling  that  a  local  tribe 
of  the  Order  of  Red  Men  gets,  "Schaugh-naugh-ta-da."  An 
Indian  deed  of  1672  for  the  township  gives,  "Schau-hech-ta-de," 
which  was  probably  as  near  as  the  Dutchman  who  drew  the  deed 
could  get  to  the  sound  of  the  word  when  pronounced  by  the 
Indians.  In  1675,  Sheriff  Cobes,  of  Albany,  dropped  the  second 
"h"  from  the  spelling  in  the  deed  and  strangely  enough.  Governor 
Stuyvesant  in  an  order  written  in  1663  spelled  the  word  exactly 
as  it  is  now  spelled.  Tn  1678,  Governor  Andross,  in  a  proclama- 
tion prohibiting  trade  with  "Scon-ex-ta-dy."  in  the  last  two 
syllables  followed  the  spelling  of  Governor  Stuyvesant  and  made 
a  muss  of  the  two  first  syllables,  probably  through  an  effort  to 


The  Off -Shoot.  21 

be  phonetic.  Morse's  Geography  of  1789  gives  "Skenectady." 
hi  1693,  the  Rev.  John  Miller,  a  man  of  liberal  education,  gave 
"Scan-ec-ta-de ;"  in  [695  the  inventory  of  the  estate  of  Hendrick 
Gardinier,  gives,  "Shinn-ectady  ;"  Lieutenant  Hunt,  Commander 
of  the  Fort  in  1696,  spelled  it,  "Schon-ac-ta-dv,"  the  nearest 
phonetic  spelling  found  ;  and  in  1802,  when  the  people  had  become 
well  acquainted  with  the  Mohawk  language,  it  was  spelled  in 
a  petition,  "Schon-hec-ta-dy." 

Of  the  seventy-one  different  spellings  to  be  found  in  old 
documents,  only  once  is  the  word  begun  with  a  C  and  that  was 
done  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Johnson  who  wrote  to  Archbishop  Seeker, 
of  London,  in  1759,  about  the  building  of  an  Episcopal  Church — 
St.  George's — in  "Chenectedi." 

THE  OFF-SHOOT. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  be  well  born  and  a  better  when  honest, 
broad-minded  qualities  and  principles  of  good  citizenship,  thrift 
and  independence  are  inherited  with  the  blue-blood.  Of  such 
were  the  early  settlers  of  Schenectady. 

The  men  who  settled  Schenectady  were  unique  in  the  New 
World,  as  settlers.  Their  largeness  of  mind  was  equalled  by 
unselfishness ;  their  thrift  for  the  present  by  their  thoughtfulness 
for  those  who  would  come  after  them.  Their  pronouns  were 
"We"  and  "Our,"  not  "V  and  "Mine." 

Schenectady  was  not  a  child  of  Albany,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  those  who  settled  it  were  from  that  place.  It  was  to  be 
rid  of  Albany  and  the  intolerable  monopoly  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company  and  its  self-assumed  right  to  interfere  with  the 
inherent  rights  of  individuals,  and  of  the  Patroons,  men  who 
were  granted  vast  tracts  of  valuable  land  for  the  purpose  of 
colonization,  but  who  in  reality  became  rivals  of  the  West  India 
Company  in  trade  monopoly  and  oppression  of  the  individual,  that 
the  men  who  became  the  Fifteen  Original  Proprietors  of  Sche- 
nectady cut  loose  from  such  oppression  and  formed  a  new  settle- 
ment where  all  should  have  equal  right  to  buy  and  sell  and  live. 


2.2  Old  Schenectady. 

While  their  condition  was  greatly  improved,  they  did  not 
entirely  free  themselves  from  the  monopoly  of  Albany  till  1727. 

Led  by  Arent  Van  Curler — a  man  of  such  honesty,  justice  and 
fearlessness  that  his  name  became  a  synonym  with  the  Iriquois 
and  Indians  of  Canada  for  all  that  appealed  to  them  as  being  the 
best — they  went  to  Schenectady  (the  place  "Beyond  the  Pine 
Plains")  and  purchased  from  the  Iriquois,  or  Five  Nations, 
"Schonowe,"  or  the  "Great  Flats."  Here  on  the  site  of  the 
present  city  of  Schenectady  they  built  a  village  and  on  the  great 
flats  they  had  their  farms.  The  township  included  128  square 
miles  and  a  certain  portion  of  this  was  given  to  the  original 
settlers ;  the  remainder,  known  as  common  lands  was  held  in 
trust  for  the  community  then  existing  and  for  those  who  should 
come  after  them.  These  men,  of  their  own  will,  assumed  the 
titles  of  Trustees  in  accord  with  their  idea  of  "We"  and  "Our" 
instead  of  "I"  and  "Mine"  and  later,  when  one  of  them  tried  to 
set  upon  a  claim  of  personal  ownership  in  the  common  lands, 
he  and  his  heirs  were  fought  to  the  end  as  determinedly  as  only 
Dutchmen  could  fight.  This  idea  of  all  living  for  one  and  one 
for  all  was  the  result  of  deliberate  purpose,  not  of  chance.  They 
wished  to  establish  a  settlement  in  which  all  should  be  equal  and 
they  realized  their  wish. 

Although  this  first  permanent  settlement  was  not  made  till 
1662,  Van  Curler  was  more  or  less  familiar  with  the  locality  for 
twenty  years  before,  for  he  first  saw  it  in  1642.  Even  then  there 
were  a  few  daring  hunters  and  trappers  who  had  made  homes  for 
themselves  widely  separated  one  from  the  other.  There  seems  to 
be  no  record  of  who  they  were,  where  they  came  from  or  what 
became  of  them. 

The  desire  of  the  settlers  to  have  the  land  surveyed  and  their 
portions  allotted  was  not  realized  till  two  years  after  the  settle- 
ment, for  the  authorities  at  Albany  were  jealous  and  fearful  that 
some  of  the  profits  flowing  into  their  pockets  would  be  stopped 
at  the  new  settlement.  In  April,  1662,  Van  Curler  had  written 
his  second  request  that  Jacques  Cortelyou  be  authorized  to  make 


Location  of  Proprietors  23 

the  survey.  This  request  was  weakly  denied  by  the  Director 
General  on  the  ground  that  before  the  settlement  could  he  formed 
and  the  land  surveyed,  at  least  twenty  families  should  compose 
the  settlement  and  that  they  should  promise  not  to  trade  with  the 
Indians.  In  May,  1663,  Governor  Stuyvesant  made  another 
excuse  for  delaying  the  survey,  this  time  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  been  informed  that  some  of  the  settlers  had  dared  to  sell 
liquor  to  the  Indians  against  his  express  orders  to  the  contrary. 
He  ordered  Cortelyou  not  to  survey  land  for  any  one  in  the  new 
settlement  unless  he  signed  a  pledge,  drawn  by  the  Governor,  not 
to  trade  in  any  manner  with  the  Indians.  They  were  also  to  agree 
to  pay,  without  opposition,  should  they  violate  their  pledge,  fifty 
beaver  skins  for  the  first  offence ;  one  hundred  for  the  second, 
and  for  the  third  to  voluntarily  forfeit  all  their  lands.  This  reply 
was  talked  over  by  Van  Curler  and  the  other  fourteen  proprietors 
and  they  decided  to  sign  it.  Still  the  Governor  delayed.  He 
took  on  a  highly  religious  and  fatherly  tone.  He  feared  that  the 
transportation  of  valuable  goods  by  wagons  so  many  miles  from 
Albany  would  cause  the  Indians  to  attack  the  wagon  trains,  kill 
the  settlers  and  steal  the  goods  and  mistreat  their  women.  Finally, 
after  Alexander  Lindsey  Glen,  William  Teller  and  Harmon 
Vedder  presented  a  petition  on  April  17,  1664,  for  a  survey, 
it  was  granted. 

LOCATION  OF  PROPRIETORS. 

The  area  laid  out  as  a  village  by  the  Fifteen  Original 
Proprietors  of  Schenectady,  included  about  twenty  acres.  The 
streets  were  broad  and  were  laid  out  at  right  angles,  with  four 
hundred  feet  between  parallel  streets.  Each  of  these  blocks  was 
divided  into  four  lots  of  two  hundred  feet.  This  made  each  lot 
a  corner  lot,  with  frontage  on  two  streets.  Besides  the  village 
lots,  each  proprietor  was  given  a  farm  on  the  flats  or  islands;  a 
pasture  to  the  east  of  the  village;  and  a  garden  to  the  south  of 
the  village. 

The  apportionment  of  the  village  lots,  according  to  records, 
was  as  follows : 


Location  of  Proprietors.  25 

Arent  Van  Corlear — or  Van  Curler — was  on  the  north-east 
corner  of  Union  and  Church  streets,  where  the  old  Union  Classi- 
cal Institute  building- — now  the  Mohawk  Club — stands. 

Philip  Hendrikse  Brouwer  was  on  the  north-west  corner  of 
State  and  Church  streets.  He  died,  leaving  no  children;  so  the 
name  is  extinct. 

Alexander  Lindsey  Glen  was  on  the  west  side  of  Washington 
avenue,  extending  from  the  northerly  line  of  Union  street  down 
toward  Front  street. 

Simon  Volkertse  Veeder  was  on  the  north-west  corner  of 
State  and  Ferry  streets,  diagonally  opposite  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
biulding. 

Ahasueras  Tennis  Van  Valsen  was  on  the  south  side  of  State 
street,  at  its  junction  with  Mill  lane.  The  property  extended 
back  on  the  lowland  toward  the  canal,  and  included  about  twenty- 
five  acres.  He  was  the  miller  of  the  community,  and  as  he  was 
killed  in  the  "massacre"  of  1690,  without  children,  the  name  is 
extinct. 

Peter  Adrience  Van  Woggieum,  also  called  Soegemakelyk, 
was  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Union  and  Church  streets, 
opposite  the  old  Union  Classical  Institute  property. 

Cornelius  Antonisen  \  an  Slyck's  location  is  not  known.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  a  Mohawk  chief  and  was  adopted  by  the 
tribe.  He  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Mohawks  and  by  his 
white  associates.  His  descendants  may  boast  of  fine  old  Holland 
blood  and  of  much  older  American  blood.  The  Mohawks  were 
fierce  and  cruel  and  the  gentlemen  of  Spain,  who  managed  the 
Inquisition,  were  crafty  and  cruel ;  but  the  former  possessed 
qualities  which,  in  Europe,  made  princes  and  great  nobles  of  those 
who  possessed  them. 

This  Indian  wife  was  somewhat  remarkable  and  was  so  highly 
esteemed  by  the  Dutch  of  her  day,  that  the  following  paraphrase 
from  Dunker's  and  Sluyter's  journal  of  1680,  will  be  interesting. 

"I  was  surprised  to  find  so  far  in  the  woods" — the  place  so  far 
in  the  woods  was  Schenectady — "a  person  who  showed  so  much 


26  Old  Schenectady. 

love  for  God.  She  told  me  her  story  from  the  beginning  and  how 
it  was  that  she  became  a  Christian."  Her  father  and  mother  were 
tull-blooded  Mohawk  Indians,  who  instinctively  hated  the 
Christians  and  their  teachings,  and  her  mother  would  never  listen 
to  anything  about  them.  This  girl  lived  with  her  parents  and 
brothers  and  sisters.  Sometimes  she  went  with  her  mother  to 
the  settlements  to  trade,  and  sometimes  the  people  from  the  settle- 
ments went  to  the  place,  where  she  lived,  to  trade.  Some  of  the 
whites  took  a  fancy  to  the  girl  as  she  seemed  to  be  more  of  a 
Christian,  in  many  ways,  than  an  Indian.  When  they  proposed 
to  take  her  to  the  settlement  and  bring  her  up  according  to  white 
ideas  her  mother  would  not  hear  of  it  and  the  little  girl  was  at 
first  afraid.  After  repeated  visits  by  the  settlers  and  requests  to 
take  her  to  the  settlements  the  little  girl  discovered  that  the 
Christians  were  not  all  that  her  mother  had  told  her  they  were. 
She  seemed  to  be  naturally  drawn  toward  Christianity,  the  love 
of  God  and  of  Christ.  This  caused  her  family  to  hate  and  abuse 
her.  Finally  they  drove  her  out  and  she  went  to  the  white  settlers, 
who  had  been  so  kind  to  her.  She  was  gladly  welcomed  and  lived 
for  a  long  time  with  a  woman  who  taught  her  to  read  and  write 
and  household  duties.  When  she  had  learned  the  Dutch  language 
she  studied  the  New  Testament  with  such  good  purpose  that  she 
made  a  confession  of  faith  and  was  baptized. 

Gerrit  Bancker  was  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Union  street 
and  Washington  avenue,  opposite  the  residence  of  D.  Cady  Smith, 
on  Washington  avenue. 

William  Teller  was  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Union  street 
and  Washington  avenue.  His  lot  included  the  lot  of  Judge  Jack- 
son, on  Washington  avenue,  and  of  W.  Scott  Hunter,  on  Union 
street.  He  was  the  first  of  the  name  to  come  to  the  Colony  from 
Holland,  in  1639,  in  the  service  of  the  West  India  Company.  He 
was  possessed  of  ample  means  and  great  influence. 

Bastian  De  Winter  was  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Union 
and  Church  streets,  where  the  residence  of  Franklin  McClellan — 
formerly  the  property  of  Richard  Fuller — now  stands,  across 
Union  street  from  the  First  Reformed  Church. 


Incorporated  as  Borough  and  City.  2J 

Arent  Andries  Brack  was  on  the  north-east  corner  of  State 
street  and  Washington  avenue,  where  the  apartment  house,  "The 
Alexandria,"  stands,  opposite  the  Freeman  House.  As  Bradt 
died  before  the  apportionment,  Bastian  De  Winter's  name,  as 
attorney  for  the  widow,  appears  on  the  apportionment. 

Pieter  Danelse  Van  Olinda's  location  is  not  known.  He 
married  Hillitie,  one  of  the  half-breed  daughters  of  Van  Slyck. 
She  owned  large  tracts  of  land,  by  gift  from  the  Mohawks. 

Jan  Barentse  Wemp — later  spelled  Wemple — was  on  the 
west  side  of  Washington  avenue  where  is  now  the  hotel  called  the 
Freeman  House. 

Peter  Jacobse  Borsboom  was  on  the  south-west  corner  of 
Front  street  and  Washington  avenue,  where  is  now  the  residence 
of  John  Keyes  Paige.  He  was  survived  by  several  daughters, 
but  only  one  son,  who  died,  unmarried ;  so  the  name  is  extinct. 

Jaques  Cornelius  Van  Slyck  was  on  the  little  public  square, 
between  State  and  Water  streets  at  the  place  where  the  bronze 
tablet  stands.    He  kept  one  of  the  two  inns  of  the  village. 

INCORPORATED  AS  BOROUGH  AND  CITY. 

The  settlement  of  Schenectady  was  due  to  a  desire  on  the 
parts  of  a  few  men  to  be  rid  of  the  arbitrary  power  and  oppression 
of  the  powers  in  Albany.  That  they  succeeded  in  making  a 
permanent  settlement,  was  ever  a  cause  for  jealously  on  the  part 
of  Albany;  and  the  Schenectady  settlers  and  their  successors 
were  frequently  made  to  feel  in  many  ways  the  littleness  of 
Albany's  spite. 

Up  to  1665  Schenectady  was  a  part  of  Albany.  In  that  year, 
the  war  with  the  French  being  over  and  the  resulting  prosperity 
beginning  to  be  felt,  Schenectady  became  the  most  active  and 
important  shipping  center  north  of  New  York,  for  it  was  here, 
as  has  been  mentioned  in  another  chapter,  that  the  really  great 
trade  between  the  west  and  east  was  most  felt,  Schenectady  being 
the  river  port  for  it  all.  This  brought  a  great  number  of  out- 
siders to  Schenectady,  many  of  them  being  of  a  reckless  class. 


28  Old  Schenectady. 

especially  the  river  men  who  worked  the  batteaux  and  durhani 
boats.  These  latter  were  of  the  same  style  as  the  canal  boat  of 
to-day,  only  they  were  broader  and  sharper  at  the  bow  and  had 
a  mast  rigged  with  large,  square  sails. 

In  order  that  these  persons  might  be  kept  within  bounds,  the 
people  of  Schenectady  desired  a  government  of  their  own.  in- 
dependent of  Albany.  With  this  idea  in  view  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Governor,  on  April  19,  1763,  asking  for  a  charter. 
At  the  time  Schenectady  secured  freedom  of  trade,  in  1727, 
Albany  raised  heaven  and  earth  to  prevent  it,  but  without  success, 
and  now  that  it  was  trying  to  secure  independence,  Albany 
raised  the  other  place  in  the  hope  of  preventing  that.  On  the 
second  of  the  next  month  Albany  presented  a  counter  petition  to 
the  Governor.  A  charter  was  granted  on  October  22,  1765,  which 
made  Schenectady  a  borough  and  created  the  following  offices 
which  were  filled  by  the  following  citizens :  Mayor,  Isaac  Vroo- 
man;  Recorder,  John  Duncan;  Aldermen,  Jacobus  Van  Slyck, 
John  Glen,  Jr.,  John  Sanders,  Daniel  Campbell,  John  Visgar,  J. 
B.  Van  Eps ;  Assistants — Garret  Lansing,  Rynier  Myndertse, 
Ryer  Schermerhorn,  Tobias  Ten  Eyck,  Cornelius  Cuyler,  Hei- 
manus  Bradt ;  Town  Clerk — Thomas  Mcllworth  ;  Treasurer — 
Christopher  Yates;  Assessors — Isaac  M.  Merselis  and  Isaac 
Swits;  Collector — Barent  S.  Yeeder;  High  Constable — Richard 
Collins;  Sub-constables — Thomas  Murray,  Hermanus  Terwilli- 
ger,  John  Van  Vorst,  Charles  Dennison,  James  Dunlop,  John 
Wasson,  Jr. ;  Sergeant  of  the  Mace — Alexander  Campbell. 

The  mayor,  town  clerk  and  recorder  were  appointed  by  the 
Governor  and  the  other  officers  were  elected  by  the  people,  with 
the  exceptions  of  the  high-constable  and  treasurer,  who  were 
appointed  by  the  mayor  and  council,  and  the  sergeant,  who  was 
appointed  by  the  mayor.  The  laws  of  the  borough  were  made  by 
the  mayor,  or  recorder  and  three  or  more  aldermen  or  assistants. 
The  voters  were  freemen,  who  had  been  born  in  the  borough,  or 
who  had  resided  there  for  ten  years  previous  to  the  granting  of 
the  charter,  or  such  had  been  granted  the  privilege  by  the  council. 


County  Incorporated.  29 

Only  freemen  were  permitted  to  "use  any  art,  trade,  or  mystery" 
or  to  sell  goods  at  retail.  The  charter  was  elahorate  in  detail, 
more  like  a  city  charter  than  a  borough's  and  there  is  no  record 
that  the  mayor  and  council  met  after  the  first  time  when  they 
took  the  oath  of  office,  but  the  right  and  power  to  meet  and  make 
laws  was  there  and  that  satisfied  the  people.  By  an  oversight, 
the  charter  did  not  settle  an  old  dispute  in  regard  to  the  control  of 
the  common  lands  by  the  original  settlers  or  trustees  and  their 
successors,  so  the  trustees  appointed  by  the  will  of  Arent  Bradt 
still  controlled  the  town's  property.  The  interest  and  excitement 
of  the  prelude  to  the  Revolution  settled  all  local  disagreement  of 
this  nature. 

After  the  war  had  given  Independence  to  the  Colonies,  the 
freemen  and  trustees  arrived  at  an  agreement  which  culminated 
on  March  26,  1798,  in  the  incorporation  of  Schenectady  as  a  city, 
and  the  control  of  the  public  lands  was  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor, 
aldermen  and  commonalty.  The  city  contained  four  wards.  The 
first  was  that  portion  lying  between  Union  street  and  the  Mohawk 
river ;  the  second  was  south  of  Union  street  to  the  limits  of  the 
original  grant  and  both  wards  were  bounded  on  the  east  by  the 
line  of  the  original  grant ;  the  third  ward  was  the  present  town  of 
Rotterdam  ;  and  the  fourth  was  the  present  town  of  Glenville. 
The  erection  of  these  wards  into  towns  has  been  described  else- 
where. 

COUNTY  INCORPORATED. 

Up  to  March  7,  1809,  Schenectady  was  a  part  of  Albany 
County,  a  fact  that  was  a  cause  of  irritation  to  the  people  of 
Schenectady,  but  on  that  date  in  that  year,  the  discord  ceased 
for  the  western  portion  of  Albany  County,  lying  entirely  outside 
of  the  Manor  of  Rensselaerwyck,  was  set  off  and  given  all  the 
rights  and  privileges  that  the  other  counties  of  the  State  possessed, 
being  entitled  to  two  members  of  assembly.  The  County's  first 
senior  judge  was  the  Hon.  Gerret  S.  Veeder,  a  lineal  descendant 


30  Old  Schenectady. 

of  the  original  proprietor,  Simon  Valkertse  Veeder,  and  the  first 
surrogate,  Hon.  W.  J.  Teller,  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  early 
settler,  William  Teller. 

In  addition  to  the  territory  already  mentioned  from  the 
earliest  days,  included  in  Schenectady,  (the  towns  of  Glenville, 
Rotterdam,  Duanesburg  and  Princetown),  the  town  of  Niskayuna 
was  added. 

Niskayuna  was  settled  by  people  from  Albany  at  about  the 
same  time  Schenectady  was  and  for  the  same  reason,  to  be  out 
of  the  control  of  the  officials  of  the  great  trading  company  and 
the  Patroons,  who  kept  the  Indian  trade  and  its  profits  for  them- 
selves. Niskayuna  was  set  off  from  that  portion  of  Albany  County 
lying  within  the  western  limits  of  Watervliet.  The  names  of  the 
early  settlers  of  Niskayuna  were,  Krygier  (now  Cregier)  Clute. 
Van  Vranken,  Pearse,  Yedder,  Groot,  Tymersen,  and  Van  Brook- 
hoven.  Most  notable  among  these  pioneers  was  Captain  Martin 
Krygier,  a  soldier  of  Holland  and  one  of  Governor  Stuyvesant's 
most  trusted  friends  and  officers,  the  man  whom  he  chose  for 
important  missions  requiring  diplomacy.  In  1653  Captain 
Krygier  was  the  first  burgomaster  of  New  Amsterdam.  When, 
after  taking  an  active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Colony  and  in 
many  fights  and  battles,  he  decided  to  retire  from  public  service, 
he  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk  "where  the  Indians 
carried  their  bark  canoes  over  the  stones,"  in  Niskayuna.  He 
died  in  171 2  honored  and  reverenced  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Princetown  was  made  a  township  in  March,  1798.  It  was 
and  is  a  long  narrow  strip  of  land  and  was  made  up  of  a  grant  of 
the  original  Schenectady  Patent  which  had  been  granted  to  the 
old  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  of  Schenectady,  and  from  land 
patents  owned  by  George  Ingoldsby  and  Aaron  Bradt  in  1737. 
These  original  owners  sold  to  William  Corey,  who  affected  a 
settlement,  for  many  years  known  as  Coreybush.  Corey  sold  to 
John  Duncan.  The  town  was  named  in  honor  of  John  Prince,  a 
resident  of  Schenectady  who  represented  Albany  County — before 
the  forming  of  Schenectady  County — in  the  Assembly. 


Chapter  II. 
Trade,  Protection,  Customs. 


TRADE. 


ROM  the  first  settlement  down  to  1727  the  settlers  of 
|il  Schenectady  were  prohibited  from  trading  in  any 
manner,  especially  with  the  Indians.  This  was  by 
order  of  the  Governor  and  Council  of  Albany,  who 
intended  to  keep  the  rich  profits  from  Indian  trade  to 
themselves.  They  feared  that  the  more  advantageous 
location  of  Schenectady  for  trade  with  the  Indians 
would  reduce  the  fastness  of  the  fortunes  which  were 
being  made  by  a  favored  few  in  Albany. 
The  settlers  as  a  whole  remonstrated  against  this  order  and 
Van  Curler  added  a  personal  letter  to  the  Governor  in  which  he 
said,  among  other  things:  "It  would  be  lamentable  were  the 
settlers  and  their  posterity  to  remain  forever  under  the  ban  of 
slavery  and  be  excluded  from  bartering  their  bread,  milk  or  the 
produce  of  their  farms  for  a  beaver,  so  as  to  be  able  to  purchase 
some  covering  for  their  bodies  and  their  houses." 

Governor  Stuyvesant  and  his  crowd  loved  the  wealth  which 
was  pouring  in  to  their  pockets  too  well  to  be  moved  by  such  just 
appeals.  Of  course  the  people  of  Schenectady,  who  had  cut  loose 
from  Albany  to  be  rid  of  just  such  arbitrariness,  were  indignant 
and  it  was  not  so  very  long  before  individuals  began  to  trade 
secretely  with  the  Indians.  This  fact,  or  a  rumor  of  it,  having 
been  brought  to  the  attention  of  Governor  Lovelace  in  1669,  he 
issued  an  order  prohibiting  trade  with  the  Indians  at  Schenectady. 
The  monumental  selfishness  of  this  order  is  shown  by  the  wording 
in  one  part  of  it  where  the  Governor  says:  "*  *  *  Which  does 
and  hereafter  may  tend  to  the  ruin  and  destruction  of  the  trade 


xi  • 


Trade.  33 

in  Albany,  which  is  of  far  greater  consideration  and  benefit  to  the 
Government,  than  would  be  the  private  profit  of  particular  per- 
sons." His  reference  to  the  "benefit  to  the  Government"  was  a 
play  to  his  equals  and  superiors  and  perhaps,  an  ointment  to  his 
conscience  for  playing-  the  part  of  an  arbitrary,  greedy  tyrant. 
In  1671  he  authorized  Captain  Sylvester  Salisbury,  Commandant 
of  the  Fort  in  Albany,  to  search  houses  in  Schenectady  for  furs 
and  other  Indian  goods  and  to  punish  such  persons  as  had  them 
in  their  possession. 

But  the  Dutch,  like  the  Irish,  were  "hard  to  keep  down," 
especially  the  Schenectady  Dutch.  They  defied  the  porcine 
officials  of  Albany  and  traded  secretely  and  profitably  so,  in  1678, 
Governor  Andros  took  a  hand  in  the  matter  and  issued  what 
would  be  called  to-day  an  injunction.  It  was  that  no  wagons  or 
carts  of  any  kind  should  pass  between  Albany  and  Schenectady 
without  a  permit  granted  by  the  magistrates  and  that  even  then 
no  passengers  or  merchandise  should  be  carried.  This  original 
"government  by  injunction"  was  in  force  for  three  months. 

There  is  an  infinitesimal  bit  of  irony  in  that  fact  that  in  1904 
the  wealth  and  trade  of  which  Albany  boasted  in  1678  has  traveled 
across  the  "Great  Sand  Plains,"  not  in  wagons  and  carts,  but  by 
steam  and  electricity. 

The  sheriffs  from  Albany  made  visits  to  Schenectady  for  a 
number  of  years  to  search  houses  for  contraband  goods  and  they 
met  with  resistance  frequently  and  several  prominent  citizens 
were  arrested  and  fined  for  resistance.  These  men  who  defied 
unjust  laws,  made  for  the  few  who  possessed  power  and  wealth, 
exhibited  exactly  the  same  spirit — which  is  the  spirit  of  the 
American  of  to-day  who  has  inherited  his  citizenship  from  Colonial 
ancestors — as  was  shown  by  their  Anglo-Saxon  brothers  when 
they  threw  the  tea  into  Boston  harbor.  They  were  Mindert 
Wemp,  Reynier  Schaets,  Gysbert  Garretsen  Van  Brakel,  and 
Adam  Vrooman.  This  was  in  t686.  Four  years  later,  in  1690, 
Adam  Vrooman  put  up  such  a  stiff  and  courageous  fight  in  his 
house,  for  the  safety    of    his    loved    one?,    that    he    excited    the 


34  Old  Schenectady. 

admiration  of  the  Indians  and  their  French  friends  to  the  extent 
that  they  promised  no  harm  should  he  done  him  if  he  would 
surrender.     For  a  wonder  the  promise  was  kept. 

All  these  years  the  regulation  of  trade  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  Governor  and  Council,  but  in  1686,  when  Albany  received 
its  city  charter,  the  Magistrates  took  a  hand  in  the  monopoly 
business;  the  "protection  of  infant  industries;"  and  went  far 
beyond  the  Governor  and  Council.  They  passed  laws  in  protec- 
tion of  trade- — for  Albany — not  even  dreamed  of  by  the  advocates 
for  the  protection  of  America's  infant  industries  of  1904. 

The  charter  gave  to  Albany  the  enjoyment  of  the  privilege 
and  advantage  of  having  within  its  own  walls  the  sole  manage- 
ment of  the  entire  trade  with  the  Indians  north,  west  and  east  of 
Albany.  They  could  not  monopolize  the  atmosphere,  the  sun- 
shine nor  the  rain  and  that  was  the  only  reason  they  did  not  do 
so.  The  fine  for  violating  this  Dutch  ancestor  of  twentieth- 
century  Protection,  was  £20.  of  which  one-third  went  to  the 
mayor  ;  another  to  the  mayor,  aldermen  and  commonalty ;  and  the 
third  to  the  person  suing  for  the  same.  Traders  with  the  Indians 
were  prohibited  from  importing  such  goods  as  they  could  ''swap" 
with  the  Indians  for  pelts  and  the  fine  for  doing  so  was  £40  on 
every  £100  of  their  value.  In  170T,  Robert  Livingston  wrote  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  proposing  that  the  people  should  be 
encouraged  to  extend  the  settlements  into  the  country  by  granting 
them  free  trade  with  the  Indians,  without  being  imposed  upon 
by  the  City  of  Albany  or  any  other  city  or  town.  He  called  the 
board's  attention  to  the  fact  that  Albany  had  always  done  every- 
thing possible  to  discourage  settlement  because  it  was  feared  their 
monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade  would  be  somewhat  reduced  by 
such  settlements.  He  told  the  board  that  the  Indian  trade  would 
induce  persons  to  settle  further  inland  and  that  this  would 
enhance  the  value  of  the  land  which  would  not  otherwise  be 
increased  in  value  for  many  years.  The  Albany  sheriffs  kept  up 
their  searches ;  tabooed  goods  were  frequently  found  and  fines 
were  as  frequently  imposed. 


Trade.  3  5 

In  1723  the  "worm"  in  Schenectady  turned.  In  that  year 
J.  E.  Wendell  and  Robert  Roseboom  informed  the  Albany 
authorities  that  Johannes  Myndertse,  of  Schenectady,  had  taken 
Indians  into  his  house  on  the  corner  of  Mill  lane  and  State  street, 
who  had  beaver  and  other  skins  with  them.  Myndertse  was 
arrested,  taken  to  Albany  and  said  that  the  information  was  cor- 
rect. He  was  fined  £10  and  committed  to  jail  till  the  fine  should 
be  paid.  Habeas  Corpus  proceedings  were  begun  and  he  brought 
suit  against  the  Aldermen  of  Albany  for  trespass  and  false 
imprisonment.  In  1727  the  Supreme  Court  decided  in  bis  favor 
and  the  aldermen  were  out  of  pocket  £41-9-3  for  damages  and 
costs.  Schenectady  had  demonstrated  that  the  principle  of  free 
trade  meant  greater  general  prosperity  for  the  Colony  than  pro- 
tection for  a  few  wealthy  monopolists. 

In  modern  parlance,  "the  lid  was  always  off,"  all  over 
the  Colony,  so  far  as  the  free  selling  of  rum  to  the  Indians 
was  concerned.  This  was  a  grave  fault  of  the  early  Dutch 
settlers  and  Schenectady  was  not  an  exception  to  the  rule,  in  a 
'letter  on  the  subject  in  1687,  Colonel  Peter  Schuyler  told  the 
Governor  that  the  selling  of  liquor  to  the  Indians  was  a  great 
evil  and  kept  them  from  being  about  their  business  "as  they 
stayed  at  Schenectady  continually  drinking."  Even  some  of  the 
most  prominent  Indian  Sachems  took  the  matter  up  with  the 
Colonial  authorities  in  an  effort  to  stop  the  traffic  in  liquor  with 
the  Indians  as  it  was  demoralizing  them  and  making  them  quar- 
relsome. 

The  Dutch  trader  liked  the  business  very  well  for  if  he  could 
exchange  rum  for  pelts  or  valuable  furs  and  at  the  same  time  so 
confuse  the  mind  of  the  Indian  with  the  rum  that  he  would  give 
ten  times  its  value  in  skins,  so  much  the  better.  The  Colony 
tried  to  stop  the  sale  but  without  much  success.  The  trouble  was 
then  as  it  now  is,  that  the  sale  of  liquor  was  very  profitable. 


Forts.  37 

FORTS. 

The  first  protection  from  Indians  and  other  enemies  at 
Schenectady  was  a  stockade,  which  was,  no  doubt,  erected  as  soon 
after  the  houses  for  the  pioneers,  as  possible.  This  stockade  was 
made  of  the  trunks  of  the  immense  pines  which  were  m  great 
number  then.  They  were  twenty  feet  long  and  were  set  close 
together  in  a  trench  about  the  outer  limits  of  the  settlement. 
Where  they  touched  they  were  hewn  flat  and  then  pinned  at  the 
top  together,  the  tops  being  cut  to  a  point  to  add  to  the  difficulty 
of  scaling.  These  great  posts  were  of  sufficient  thickness  to  be 
bullet-proof,  to  the  bullets  of  1662  at  least,  and  of  course  arrows 
were  harmless,  unless  shot  over  the  top. 

The  stockade  surrounding  Schenectady  inclosed  the  original 
four  squares  bounded  by  State  and  Front  streets ;  Washington 
avenue  and  Ferry  street,  the  great  posts  being  placed  on  the 
outer  line  of  those  streets,  so  that  the  street  proper  was  between 
the  stockade  and  the  front  lines  of  the  four  blocks.  In  those 
days  and  for  many  years  thereafter,  Front  street  did  not  bend 
to  the  north  at  Church  street  as  it  does  now,  but  was  in  a  line  at 
right  angles  to  Church  street  and  intersected  Ferry  street  where 
the  angle  now  is  in  Ferry  street,  opposite  the  northern  boundary  of 
St.  George's  Church  yard.  This  stockade  was  entered  by  gates 
at  Church  and  Front  streets  and  at  Church  and  State  streets. 

The  first  blockhouse  was  at  the  junction  of  Front  street  and 
Washington  avenue,  that  being  the  point  which  would  be  first 
attacked  by  Indians,  who  would  approach  the  settlement  from 
the  river.  After  the  destruction  of  the  settlement  by  the  French 
and  Indians  in  1690,  another  block  bouse  was  erected  on  land 
belonging  to  Isaac  Swits — who  was  taken  prisoner  to  Canada  by 
the  Indians — west  of  the  end  of  Union  street,  that  is,  Union  street 
and  Washington  avenue.  This  was  in  1690.  It  may  be  stated 
incidentally  that  Swits  returned  a  year  later  to  find  his  property 


38 


Old  Schenectady. 


pre-empted  and  used  as  a  fort,  and  that  it  was  not  till  1708  that  a 
grant  was  made  to  his  son  of  1,000  acres  of  land  in  Niskayuna  in 
payment. 

The  fort  erected  after  the  burning  was  a  very  large  affair 
and  a  carefully  executed  map  of  it  was  drawn  in  1695  by  the  Rev. 
John  Miller,  a  British  chaplain  stationed  in  New  York,  who  some- 
times went  to  Schenectady  to  administer  the  sacraments  to  the 
soldiers  stationed  there  and  to  civilian  churchmen. 


Several  historians  have  regarded  this  fort  as  including  the 
whole  of  the  original  village  consisting  of  four  blocks  four 
hundred  feet  square.  In  fact  this  is  the  generally  accepted  idea, 
but  there  are  reasons  for  doubting  it. 

A  long  foot  note  in  Pearson's  history  describes  the  fort  in 
detail  and  places  the  four  blockhouses  at  the  foot  of  State  street , 
at  State  and  Ferry  streets ;  at  Ferry  and  Front  streets  and  at 
Front  street  and  Washington  avenue.  These  blockhouses  were 
joined  by  the  stockade  and  the  whole  affair  covered  the  entire 


Forts. 


39 


village,  as  originally  laid  out  in    1(104,  in  four  squares  of  four 
hundred  feet.     This  is  according  to  the  foot  note. 

In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Miller's  drawing  shows  a  cluster  of 
buildings  without  regularity  and  without  the  four  blocks  separated 
by  the  two  wide  streets.  Church  and  Union.  The  survey  of  1004 
and  all  later  maps  plainly  show  the  original  four-block  plan  of 
the  village,  notably  one  of  about  1755  and  the  Vrooman  map  of 
1768.  The  probability  is  that  Mr.  Miller's  fort  was  in  reality  a 
fort  and  not  a  stockaded  village.  This  fort,  as  is  plainly  shown 
in  the  drawing,  is  bounded  by  the  main  river  and  Binni  Kill  on  the 
north  and  west.     Professor  Pearson  and  Major  MacMurray  give 


fan  Curlu-   , 


. 


' 


State  street  as  the  southern  and  Ferry  street  as  the  eastern 
boundaries.  It  is  probable  that  they  both  jumped  at  a  con- 
clusion and  have  made  the  fort  include  the  area  of  the  original 
village  with  the  stockades  on  State,  Ferry,  and  Front  streets  and 
along  the  Binni  Kill.  The  probability  is  that  this  fort  occupied  the 
parallelogram  bounded  by  Front   street  continued,  Washington 


40 


Old  Schenectady. 


avenue,  State  street  continued  and  the  Binni  Kill.  In  this  area 
would  be  sufficient  room  for  the  buildings  contained  in  the  fort 
as  drawn  by  Mr.  Miller.  After  the  fire  which  destroyed  all  but 
two  of  the  houses  on  that  night  of  the  massacre,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  this  fort  was  built  first  and  that  the  houses  were  then  rebuilt 
on  the  sites  of  those  which  had  been  destroyed.  While  the 
rebuilding  of  the  homes  was  in  progress,  the  settlers  no  doubt 
lived  in  the  little  cabins  within  the  fort  and  finally,  after  all  the 


APIAN 

SCHENECTADY, 

.  •itunhJZdf  43  ■  Lo/K/.U .30 


uii  1  .  BMtlnvfifln.  - 

r   .   OMJi  .        ' 

/     l).r- 1   '  r'  "  '•  ■' 

>:/'.'  -  ■      .  •  ■   ■ 

■  ■  -      - 


homes  had  been  finished,  only  the  soldiers  and  Indians  occupied  the 
fort  buildings.  In  case  of  another  attack  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  would  retire  to  the  fort,  taking  their  live  stock  with  them. 
There  were  two  large  buildings  for  Indians,  besides  a  large 
barn  and  numerous  out-buildings  for  live  stock  during  a  siege. 
The  buildings  for  the  Indians  were  provided  because,  after  the 
massacre,  a  considerable  number  of  Mohawks  lived  with  tbe 
remnants  of  the  little  settlement  for  encouragement  and  to  help 
the  reduced  population  regain  its  losses.     These  Indians  helped 


Ports. 


4* 


build  the  stockade  and  fort  and  gathered  the  crops  at  the  first 
harvest  after  the  massacre.  The  entire  population  at  this  time 
was  iess  than  one  hundred  adults,  including-  those  in  the  village 
and  those  outside,  from  the  line  of  the  town  of  Xiskayuna  to 
Hoffman's  ferry,  so  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  Indians  was 
great  and  much  needed.  Three  years  after  the  date  of  Mr. 
Miller's  plan  of  the  fort,  1698,  the  entire  population  in  the  same 
territory  was  fifty  men,  forty-one  women  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  children. 

In  1705,  the  "Queen's  new  fort"  was  built  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  junction  of  Ferry  and  Front  streets,  where  the  present  Indian 


£****».  &»~C6.-^ .^CcC^™ 


(L 


monument  stands.  It  was  one  hundred  feet  square  and  was 
surrounded  by  a  double  stockade  with  blockhouses  at  the  corners. 
In  1735  it  was  rebuilt  upon  a  stone  foundation  with  the  super- 
structure of  heavy  timber.  Its  area  was  increased  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-four  feet,  each  of  the  four  blockhouses  being  twenty- 
four  feet  square. 


Customs. 


43 


The  frequent  petitions  for  repairs  to  the  existing  fortifica- 
tions and  complaints  of  their  condition  by  the  people  of  Schenec- 
tady, to  the  Colonial  authorities  in  Albany,  gives  the  impression 
that  while  Schenectady,  being  a  frontier  post  was  considered  to 
be  the  key  to  Albany  and  New  York,  the  Colonial  authorities  did 
very  little  for  it  until  actually  forced  to  do  so,  because  the  forts 
and  stockades  were  rotting".  Even  then  much  of  the  work  and 
expense  had  to  be  done  and  borne  by  the  settlers. 

CUSTOMS. 

It  was  a  hard-and-fast  custom,  even  more  of  a  rule  than  a 
custom,  that  married  women  should  wear  caps.  This  cap  wear- 
ing by  married  women  obtained  from  the  earliest  days  well  into 
the  nineteenth  century.  A  failure  to  conform  to  this  custom  was 
considered  a  very  grave  offence  against  propriety,  as  much  so 
perhaps,  as  it  would  be  to-day  for  a  woman  to  drink  at  a  public 
bar.  One  of  the  first  things  the  young  wife  did  was  to  make  a 
supply  of  caps,  dainty  or  ugly  according  to  the  taste  of  the  maker. 
Usually  the  bride's  best  and  finest  needle  work  was  put  into  the 
making  of  this  badge  of  respectability,  and  ruffles  as  an  adorn- 
ment were  so  general  that  fluting  irons  were  made  for  that 
especial  purpose.  As  is  shown  in  the  picture,  there  was  a  base 
and  graceful  standard  supporting  a  cylinder  of  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  in  diameter  and  six  inches  long.  This  was  open  at  one 
end  and  cone-shaped  at 
the  other.  This  cylin- 
der was  highly  polished. 
The  heating  device  was 
a  solid  piece  of  iron  of 
the  same  shape  as  the 
cylinder,  but  smaller  so 
that  it  would  easily  rest 
inside.  This  heater  had 
a  rather  long  handle. 
When   the   wife   wished  FIutittS Iron from  the  Sanders **""*<>"■ 

to    flute    her    dainty    cap    she    first    placed    the    heater    in    the 


44 


Old  Schenectady. 


coals  of  the  open  fire  and  when  it  was  sufficiently  hot  it  was 
placed  in  the  cylinder  and  then  the  Muting  was  done.  If  the 
operator  was  blessed  with  pretty  .graceful  hands,  the  operation  of 
cap  fluting  must  have  been  very  attractive.  In  those  far-off  and 
fine  old  days  the  women  were  seldom  idle,  even  when  the 
neighbors  "dropped  in"  for  a  chat.  ( )n  such  occasions  the  thrifty 
wife  usually  took  up  the  lighter  and  more  dainty  of  the  household 
duties  of  which  cap  fluting  was  one. 

The  old  Dutch  had  many  curious  customs,  curious  according 
to  twentieth-century  ideas,  but  entirely  natural  and  quite  proper 
hi  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  There  was  marriage, 
for  instance :  Many  a  searcher  after  family  history,  or  pedigree, 
has  had  his  or  her — especially  her — gray  matter  dislocated  by  the 
startling  closeness  of  the  marriage  ceremony  and  the  first  birth, 
but  further  investigation  reduced  the  dislocation  and  the  search 
was  continued  calmly. 

The  Dutch  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  considered  marriage 
as  a  civil  contract.     When  two  young  persons  decided  to  marry, 

that  decision  was  in  the  eyes  of  the 
community,  marriage.  They  lived 
together  as  man  and  wife  and  when 
the  minister  made  his  periodical 
visit  for  the  purpose  of  administer- 
ing the  sacraments,  they  would 
have  their  civil  marriage  confirmed 
by  the  religious  ceremony.  In  the 
early  days  the  visits  of  the  minister 
were  sometimes  three  months,  or 
even  longer  apart.  In  the  cases  of 
such  persons  who  lived  at  a  dis- 
tance from  one  or  another  of  the 
small  settlements,  the  difficulty  in 
spring  whai  from  the  Sanders  Manno,,.      having  the  marriage  confirmed  by 

a  minister    was    greatly    increased. 
In  those  early  days  the  conditions  required  that  the  community 


Customs.  45 

should  be  made  up  ot  families.  While  the  men  were  conquering 
Nature  and  planting-  and  reaping,  or  hunting  and  fishing  for 
food,  the  women  were  weaving  and  making  garments  and  pre- 
serving such  of  the  products  of  the  fields  and  woods,  as  could 
be  preserved,  for  the  winter,  so  marriage  was  the  natural  condi- 
tion. There  were  no  bachelor-girls  in  the  seventeenth  century 
and  the  re-marriage  of  widows  and  widowers  would  be  considered 
somewhat  rapid  even  in  Chicago. 

Some  of  the  verv  odd  customs  which  obtained  at  funerals 
continued  well  into  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  a  matter  of 
history  that  Dr.  Eliphalet  Xott,  president  of  Union  College,  was 
the  first  man  with  sufficient  moral  courage  to  preach  against,  and 
finally  to  eliminate  locally,  the  unseemly  feasting  and  drinking 
which  accompanied  a  funeral. 

In  those  days  women  never  went  to  the  grave,  but  after  the 
coffin  had  been  taken  from  the  house  they  drank  spiced  wine  and 
nibbled  cakes.  Before  the  men  re- 
turned from  the  grave  the  women 
withdrew  and  the  men  entered  into 
the  feasting  with  heartiness.  Be- 
sides the  cakes  and  wine  they  were 
provided  with  "Church  warden 
pipes"  and  tobacco.  In  these  days 
it  is  the  artist-undertaker,  or  "mor- 
tuarians"  as  some  of  them  style 
themselves,  who  reduce  the  family  Eighteenth  century  c«*  Giasi  ;»  the 

Bradt  Family. 

finances ;  in  those  days  it  was  the 

man  who  sold  wine  and  tobacco.     The  cakes  were  of  an  especial 

kind  and  were  called  ''deadcakes." 

In  the  case  of  a  funeral  in  the  family  of  the  rich,  or  of  those 
high-up  in  the  official  life  of  the  Colony,  large  sums  were  spent 
on  the  wine  and  it  was  not  unusual  for  a  supply  of  it  to  be  put 
in  the  cellar  long  before  the  first  death  so  that  it  would  be  on 
hand  and  improving  by  age.  The  best  room  was  reserved  for 
funerals   and   was    seldom   used  for   any   other   purpose,    unless 


Corner  of  Washington   Avenue   and    State   Street 


Customs.  47 

indeed,  it  was  on  the  rare  occasions  when  the  dominie  made  a 
brief  visit.  Funerals  were  only  attended  by  those  who  were  invited. 
The  list  would  be  made  out  and  given  to  the  sexton  and  he  would 
do  the  inviting  verbally.  There  were  fixed  charges  for  the  ser- 
vices of  the  sexton  for  delivering  the  invitations ;  for  burial ; 
ringing  the  bell,  tolling  it,  for  use  of  the  great  pall  or  the  little 
pall.  If  the  delivery  of  invitations  required  going  out  from  the 
settlement,  he  was  allowed  to  make  an  extra  charge. 

In  regard  to  the  palls:  They  were  the  property  of  the 
church  and  were  two  in  number — one  small  the  other  large.  When 
the  coffin  was  carried  from  the  best  room  to  the  front  door,  it 
was  placed  upon  a  bier  and  then  carried  to  the  grave  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  bearers  ;  the  pall  having  been  thrown  over  the 
bier.  Down  to  1800,  Schenectady  did  not  possess  a  hearse  so, 
while  it  was  a  hardship  in  stormy  weather  and  much  more  so  in 
very  cold  winter  weather,  to  carry  the  coffin  on  the  shoulders  from 
the  house  to  the  grave  in  the  village,  the  conditions  on  outlying 
farms  made  it  necessary  for  the  family  to  have  a  small  plot  of 
ground  set  apart  for  burial  purposes.  In  April,  1800,  the  con- 
sistory of  the  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church  decided  to  procure 
a  hearse  for  the  use  of  the  congregation  and  the  public  under 
certain  regulations.  In  December  of  that  year  the  hearse  arrived. 
It,  with  the  harness,  was  given  into  the  charge  of  the  sexton  and 
application  for  its  use  was  made  to  him  and  he  was  empowered  to 
collect  the  fees. 

Another  curious,  and  no  doubt  extremely  popular,  custom 
was  the  generous  use  of  rum  on  all  occasions.  If  a  house  was 
being  built,  or  a  church,  or  any  work  or  occasion  of  a  public 
nature  there  was  an  item  in  the  bill  of  expense  for  rum.  On  April 
28,  1748,  Jacob  Mynderse  was  paid  £3-12-2  for  rum  for  the 
dominie's  bee  and  on  the  same  day  of  the  month  in  1751,  Isaac 
A.  Truax  was  paid  £1-13-6  for  sugar  and  rum  for  another  bee 
which  only  goes  to  show  that  in  those  days  when  preachers  were 
hard  up  for  a  subject,  or  his  wife  was  too  busy  to  write  a  sermon 
for  him,  he  could  not  go  to  that  subject,  which  has  been  reduced 


48 


Old  Schenectady. 


to  a  mere  shadow  by  the  preachers  of  to-day,  RUM,  for  he  had 
not  then  discovered  that  the  crime  of  the  world  was  caused  by 
rum.  On  the  contrary,  he  found  that  with  proper  ingredients  it 
was  a  very  acceptable  substitute  for  water  from  the  Mohawk,  at 
one  of  his  bees.  Another  item  which  shows  how  close  were  the 
relations  of  rum  and  religion  in  those  old  days,  is  from  the 
treasurer's  book  of  the  First  Reformed  Church;  July  5,  1814— 
"Paid  for  liquor  when  the  old  spire  was  taken  down,  2>7  l~2 
cents." 


Chapter  III. 
Calamities. 


MASSACRE. 

HE  first  and  greatest  calamity  was  that  which  took 
HP  place  in  the  night  of  February  8,  [690.  In  that  part 
of  the  geographies,  of  twenty-five  years  ago,  which 
was  devoted  to  the  State  of  New  York,  there  was  a 
picture  of  the  event  called,  "The  burning  of  Schenec- 
tady in  1690,"  but  in  the  Mohawk  valley  it  is  always 
referred  to  as  the  Massacre. 

The  conditions  which  made  it  possible  for  the  French 
and  their  Indian  allies  to  destroy  Schenectady  was 
Protestant  zeal,  bordering  upon  religious  hysteria.  The  Leislerian 
craze  is  a  matter  of  State  history  and  will  only  be  referred  to  for 
the  purpose  of  combating  those  persons  who  attribute  the  inactiv- 
ity and  unprepared  condition  of  the  settlers  of  Schenectady,  to 
Dutch  stupidity  and  phlegm,  whereas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was 
religious  hysteria. 

At  the  time  William  and  Mary  ascended  the  throne  of  Great 
Britain,  there  lived  in  New  York  a  merchant  possessed  of  large 
fortune,  who  was  the  political  ancestor  of  the  long  line  of  political 
bosses  with  which  New  York  has  been  cursed  or  blessed,  accord- 
ing to  whether  one  is  a  citizen  or  a  "grafter."  This  man,  Jacob 
Leisler,  assumed  the  control  of  the  Colonial  government  and  was 
encouraged  in  so  doing  by  the  Protestant  extremists,  who  held 
that  all  officials,  in  office  under  James,  were  Papists.  Leisler 
removed  the  officials  and  appointed  those  who  were  friends  of  him- 
self and  his  son-in-law,  Milborne.  Bigotry  was  rampart  to  such 
an  extent,  that  the  people  of  Schenectady  would  obey  only  the 
men  appointed  by  Leisler.  nor  would  they  provide  for  the  soldiers 


50  Old  Schenectady. 

sent  for  their  protection.  It  is  tradition,  that  they  felt  so  safe  in 
their  Protestant  security  that  they  made  snow  men  at  the  gates  of 
the  fort  to  act  as  sentinels  instead  of  placing  men  of  flesh  and 
blood  there  on  that  bitter  winter's  night,  when  the  French  Com- 
mander, Sieur  Le  Moyne  de  Sainte  Helene,  with  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  French  and  ninety-six  Indians,  two  hundred  and 
ten  in  all,  made  tbeir  attack  upon  the  unprepared  settlement  of 
four  hundred  inhabitants. 

When  this  French  expedition  set  out,  it  had  no  definite  ending 
to  its  journey  by  woods  and  water,  other  than  to  attack  the 
British  settlements  in  Xew  York.  They  left  Montreal  in  January, 
ifxjo,  and  after  a  six-days'  march  through  the  deep  snow  in  the 
intense  cold,  they  halted  for  consultation,  when  the  Indians 
demanded  to  know  their  destination.  The  French  favored  an 
attack  upon  Albany,  that  being  the  largest  and  most  important  of 
the  settlements,  up  the  river  from  Xew  York.  The  Indians,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  favor  attacking  Corlear — as  Schenectady  was 
called  by  the  French  out  of  respect  to  Van  Corlear,  the  really 
honest  Dutch  gentleman — as  the}-  were  more  familiar  with  the 
locality.  A  portion  of  the  Indians  who  were  with  the  French. 
were  composed  of  those  renegades  from  the  Mohawks  who  had 
been  seduced  to  Canada  and  to  the  adoption  of  the  Roman  faith 
by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter.  These 
red  fiends  who  had  adopted  the  faith  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 
hated  those  other  fiends  who  had  adopted  the  faith  of  their 
Protestant  Dutch  friends ;  in  both  cases  from  ulterior  motives, 
not  from  conviction,  notwithstanding  their  professed  belief  that 
the  murdering,  scalp-lifting  savage  of  Canada  went  directly  to 
paradise  by  way  of  the  rapid  transit  system  of  confession  and 
absolution  ;  or  that  other  belief,  that  the  equally  bloody  savages 
of  the  Mohawk  valley  entered  heaven  over  the  "straight  and 
narrow  path"  of  Protestant  bigotry. 

The  desires  of  the  Indians  carried  weight  with  the  French, 
so  the  expedition  kept  to  the  right  at  Ticonderoga,  where  the 
trails  for  Albany  and  Schenectady  diverged,  and  arrived  opposite 


Massacre. 


5' 


Schenectady  just  before  midnight.  They  intended  to  make  the 
attack  early  in  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  between  two  and 
three  o'clock,  but  the  cold  was  so  intense  it  was  impossible  to 
delay,  as  they  had  no  protection  from  it  and,  of  course,  could  not 
build  fires,  as  they  would  warn  the  people  of  their  presence. 

The  advance  was  made  immediately;  the  traditional  snow 
sentinels  were  found  keeping  guard  at  the  gate  which  was  open,  as 
if  to  invite  the  murder  and  desolation  which  followed.  The  attack 
was  made,  upon 
signal,  first  upon 
the  homes  in  the 
village  and  then 
upon  the  fort  at 
stockade  around 
one  corner  of  the 
the  village.  In 
this  fort  were 
Lieut.  Enos  Tal- 
m  a  d  g  e  an  d 
twenty-four  men 
of  the  Connecti- 
cut soldier  y. 
Lieut,  de  Man- 
tet,  the  second  in 
maud  of  the 
French,   led  the 

The   Massacre,   January,    Ib'/U. 

attack  upon  the 

the  fort,  the  gate  of  which  was  finally  burst  open  after  great 
difficulty,  the  fort  set  on  fire  and  the  defenders  killed  or  captured. 
Few  of  the  men  in  the  homes  of  the  village  made  any  defence. 
The  Marquis  de  Montigny,  a  volunteer  made  an  attack  upon  the 
home  of  Adam  Vrooman,  but  he  defended  it  with  courage  and 
desperation.  The  marquis  was  wounded  twice  by  a  spear  in  the 
hands  of  Vrooman  and  would  have  been  driven  off  but  for  French 
reinforcements  arriving  just  in  time.  Vrooman's  life  was  spared 
for  various  reasons  as  is  told  in  the  chapter  on  Ancient  Dwellings. 


Xorth   Side  of  State   Street,   near  Washington   Avenue. 


Massacre. 


53 


The  murder  of  the  settlers  continued  for  two  hours  and  the  flames 
which  consumed  their  homes  continued  all  night  and  into  the 
following  day.  After  the  killing  was  finished,  the  Indians  were 
kept  busy  setting  fire  to  the  homes,  for  the  French  commander, 
from  past  experience  feared,  that  should  the  Indians  have  nothing 
to  occupy  their  attention  they  would  hunt  up  the  liquor  with 
which  all  Dutchmen  were  well  supplied  and,  becoming  drunk, 
would  be  unable  to  fight  should  assistance  be  sent  to  the  defence 
of  the  village.  French  sentinels  were  posted  and  the  other  French 
soldiers  obtained  some  much-needed  rest.  Of  the  400  inhabitants, 
sixty-two  were  killed,  and  thirty  taken  prisoners  to  Canada.  Of 
the  eighty  buildings  in  the  village,  only  two  were  not  burned,  one 
being  that  of  Captain  John  A.  Glen  and  the  other  being  that  of 
the  widow  Bradt  in  which  the  wounded  marquis  had  been  cared 
for.  Of  the  considerable  number  of  homes  outside  the  stockaded 
village,  only  three  were  not  burned.  The  total  loss  to  the  Dutch 
was  estimated  by  the  French  at  $80,000. 

At  sunrise  the  French  sent  some  of  their  men  across  the 
river  to  the  Sanders  mansion  to  obtain  his  surrender,  but  he  had 
no  intention  of  surrendering  to  them  and  was  prepared  for  a 
defence  with  his  farm  hands  and  some  Indians.  There  was  no 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  French  commander  to  attack  Captain 
Sanders,  who,  with  his  wife,  were  notable  in  Canada  for  their 
goodness  to  French  prisoners  who  had  been  captured  by  the 
Mohawks.  The  fact  that  Major  and  Mrs.  Sanders  were  staunch 
Protestants,  giving  help  and  comfort  to  the  French  Romanists, 
added  greatly  to  the  regard  of  the  French  for  them. 

The  French  began  the  return  journey  to  Canada  with  the 
loss  of  but  seventeen  Frenchmen  and  four  Indians  and  with 
thirty  prisoners — no  women  nor  old  men  being  taken,  as  they 
could  not  stand  the  march  through  the  snow  in  the  intense  cold — 
and  fifty  horses ;  thirty-four  of  them,  however,  were  killed  for 
food  on  the  way  to  Montreal. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Simon  Schermerhorn  rode  to 
Albany,  with  a  wound  in  one  thigh,  to  spread  the  alarm.     On 


54  Old  Schenectady. 

February  io,  two  days  after  the  massacre,  the  Albany  authorities 
sent  Captain  Jonathan  Bull,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Connecti- 
cut troops  in  Albany,  to  Schenectady,  with  five  men  from  each 
company,  to  bury  the  dead.  The  authorities  sent  a  long  letter  of 
appeal  to  Governor  Bradstreet,  of  Massachusetts,  in  which  the 
massacre  was  described  and  help  asked  for  the  destitute. 

The  conditions  in  the  little  settlement  were  awful,  for  not 
only  were  the  dead  and  wounded  to  be  considered,  but  the  living- 
were  without  shelter  in  midwinter.  There  was  danger  that  the 
settlement  would  be  abandoned.  This  was  something  the 
Albanians  and  Indians  of  the  valley  did  not  want. 

The  Mohawks  of  the  valley  were  the  friends  of  the  Dutch 
and  sympathized  with  them  in  their  great  loss  by  death  and  fire. 
Just  after  the  people  were  recovering  from  their  dazed  condition 
and  began  to  return  to  the  scene  of  the  conflagration,  they 
assembled  in  the  little  square,  where  they  were  met  by  the 
Chief  Sachem  of  the  Onondaga  Tribe,  of  the  Five  Nations,  who 
delivered  the  following  poetic  and  figurative  address  of  sympathy 
and  encouragement.  As  was  their  custom,  he  presented  a  belt  of 
wampum  at  the  proper  stages  in  his  address. 

"Brethren,  the  murder  of  our  friends,  the  white  men  of 
Schenectady,  grieves  us  greatly ;  as  much  as  if  it  had  been  done 
to  ourselves,  for  we  are  of  the  same  chain.  The  French  have  not 
acted  like  brave  men,  but  like  robbers  with  hearts  of  darkness. 
But  be  not  discouraged  on  this  account.  We  give  you  this  belt  to 
wipe  away  your  tears. 

"Brethren,  we  do  not  think  that  what  the  French  have  done 
can  be  called  a  victory  ;  it  is  only  a  further  proof  of  their  cruel 
deceit.  Five  moons  ago  they  sent  messengers  with  the  white  flag 
in  their  hands,  and  the  talk  of  peace  on  their  lips,  but  their 
thoughts  were  of  war,  as  you  now  see  by  woeful  experience. 
This  is  the  third  time  they  have  acted  thus  deceitfully.  They 
did  so  before  at  Cadaraqui,  and  in  the  country  of  the  Senecas. 
They  have  broken  open  our  house  at  both  ends.  Once  far  toward 
the  home  of  the  sun  and  here,  where  we  now  stand.     But  we  hope 


Massacre.  55 

to  have  revenge.  One  hundred  brave  Mohawks  arc  now  upon 
their  track.  They  are  young  warriors.  Their  feet  are  like  the 
elk's  feet  and  very  sure.  Their  shoulders  arc  strong,  like  the 
shoulders  of  the  buffalo.  Their  hatchets  are  as  keen  as  the  sharp 
north  wind,  and  their  eyes  are  eagles'  eyes.  They  will  follow  the 
Frenchmen  to  their  very  doors.  Not  a  man  in  Canada  shall  dare 
to  cross  his  threshold  for  a  stick  of  wood.  We  now  gather  up  our 
dead  to  bury  them,  by  this  second  belt. 

"Brethren,  the  mischief  which  has  befallen  us  is  as  great  and 
sudden  as  if  it  had  come  from  heaven.  Our  forefathers  taught 
us  to  go  with  all  speed  to  bemoan  and  lament  with  our  brethren 
in  the  same  chain,  when  disaster  happens  to  them.  We  must 
watch  carefully  lest  other  mischief  come  upon  us.  Let  us  sleep 
but  little  ;  and  when  we  lie  down,  let  our  quivers  be  full  of  arrows, 
our  bows  all  strung,  and  our  hands  upon  our  knives.  Take  this 
bill  of  vengeance,  that  you  may  be  more  watchful  for  the  future. 
We  give  you  eye-water  to  make  you  sharp  sighted,  with  this  third 
belt." 

"We  are  in  the  house  where  we  have  often  met,  to  renew  our 
chain ;  but  the  house  has  blood  upon  its  walls  and  the  doorway 
is  polluted.  We  have  come  to  wash  up  the  blood  and  clean  the 
walls,  by  this  fourth  belt." 

"Brethren,  we  are  strong.  Our  chain  is  a  strong  chain,  a 
silver  chain  and  can  neither  rust  nor  be  broken.  We  do  not  mean 
to  forsake  you  now  that  you  are  in  trouble.  Very  soon,  when 
the  trees  begin  to  bud,  and  the  bark  can  be  parted  from  the  trees, 
our  hunters  will  return  from  the  far  country  and  then  we  shall  be 
a  great  band  of  fighting  men,  ready  to  fight  your  battles.  We 
are  of  the  race  of  the  Bear,  and  the  Bear,  you  know,  never  yields 
while  one  drop  of  blood  is  left.  We  must  all  be  Bears,  as  typified 
by  this  fifth  belt. 

"Brethren,  be  patient.  This  evil  which  has  come  upon  you 
is  a  heavy  one,  but  we  shall  soon  have  better  times.  The  sun, 
which  hath  been  cloudy,  will  shine  again  pleasantly.  Take 
courage,  courage,  courage,  brethren,  with  this  sixth  belt." 


56 


Old  Schenectady. 


When  the  great  orator  of  the  Onondagas  had  finished,  all 
of  the  other  Indians  present  signified  their  approval  of  his 
remarks  by  a  sharp  exclamation  and  one  of  the  elders  of  the  church 
expressed  the  gratitude  of  the  homeless,  grief-stricken  little  com- 
munity and  then  the  sad  duty  of  burying  the  dead  was  begun. 

BEUKENDAAL  FIGHT. 

There  is  no  prettier  miniature  valley  scenery  in  Schenectady 
County  than  is  to  be  found  where  the  fight  with  the  Indians  took 
place  in  July,  1748,  known  historically  as  "The  Beukendaal 
Massacre."  "Beukendaal"  means  "beechdale,"  the  fight  having 
started  in  a  charming  little  dale    well    filled    with    beech    trees. 

"Massacre"  is  a  misnomer, 
for  it  was  anything  but 
that.  For  a  fact,  it  was 
an  out-and-out,  stand-up 
fight  with  the  settlers  the 
attacking  party. 


W*$£&- 


^31 

j*         ,- 

ji*#?t*Kc-  /•               1?> 

wSflFs.-''*-.;     JLuWIBc 

Another  Brook  or  Kill. 

This  "beechdale"  is  about 
two  miles  west  of  Scotia, 
on  the  northerly  side 
of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral railroad,  at  Hardin's 
Crossing  and  a  glimpse  of  it  may  be  had  from  the  trolley  or 
steam  cars  as  they  pass,  the  red  brick  school  house  not  far  from 
the  tracks  on  the  north  side  being  the  landmark  of  the  place  from 
the  view  point  of  the  cars.  "Beukendaal'*  begins  just  behind  the 
school.    There  is  another  brook,  or  "kill"  as  the  old  Dutch  called 


Ravine  near  the  DeGraaf  House,  called  Beukendaal. 


Beukendaal  Fight.  57 

it,  running  through  an  even  more  charming  and  romantic  little 
dell,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of  "beechdale"  and  parallel  with  it. 
The  stream  which  runs  through  it  Mows  over  a  Hat  bed  of  rock. 
In  places  it  flows  between  miniature  cliffs  well  wooded  and  is 
broken  up  into  numerous  little  falls.  It  was  between  these  two 
charming  dales  that  Abraham  De  Graaf  built  the  home  which  was 
temporarily  turned  into  a  fort  by  the  white  men,  when  the  attack 
of  the  Indians  became  too  strong  for  them. 

.  The  fight  with  the  Indians  began  with  the  shooting  of  Cap- 
tain Daniel  Toll,  by  a  party  of  Indians  from  Canada,  at  the  upper 
end  of  "Beukendaal,"  where  he,  Dick  Van  Vorst,  and  a  negro  had 
gone  to  look  for  some  strayed  horses.  They  heard,  as  they  sup- 
posed, the  horses  stamping  in  an  open  space  beyond  the  trees  and 
bushes.  When  they  emerged  into  the  open,  they  were  horrified 
to  find  a  party  of  Indians.  Mr.  Toll  was  killed,  Van  Vorst  was 
captured,  and  the  negro  fled  to  Schenectady,  a  distance  of  three 
miles,  to  give  the  alarm.  The  firing  was  herd  by  Adrian  Van 
Slyck  at  his  farm,  "Maalwyck," — now  known  as  the  Toll  farm, 
about  a  mile  out  of  Scotia  on  the  River  road  toward  Amsterdam — 
and  he  too  sent  word  to  the  town  for  help.  He  did  not  know 
surely  that  the  shooting  meant  Indians,  or  that  any  one  had  been 
killed,  but  he  did  know  that  Mr.  Toll,  Mr.  Van  Vorst  and  the 
negro  were  out  in  that  neighborhood  looking  for  strayed  horses. 

Four  parties  of  armed  men  responded  to  the  summons.  The 
first  was  composed  of  Lieutenant  Darling,  of  Connecticut,  and  his 
men  who  were  stationed  at  the  fort  in  the  town.  The  second  was 
in  command  of  Auckes  Van  Slyck ;  the  third  was  led  by  Adrian 
Van  Slyck,  of  Maalwyck,  with  some  of  the  New  York  levies ; 
while  the  fourth  party  was  in  command  of  Col.  Jacob  Glen,  Jr.,  and 
Albert  Van  Slyck.  These  four  parties,  numbering  60  men,  did 
not  go  to  "Beukendaal"  at  the  same  time,  there  being  an  hour 
or  more  between  the  arrival  of  the  first  and  last  parties. 

The  first  of  the  volunteers  to  arrive,  saw  Mr.  Toll  sitting — 
alive  as  they  supposed — with  his  back  to  a  fence  and  in  front  of 
him  was  a  crow,  flying  at  short  distances  from  him,  but  not  away 


5« 


Old  Schenectady, 


from  him.  This  strange  sight  of  a  crow  remaining  near  a  man 
excited  their  curiosity ;  the  Indians  intended  it  should,  and  when 
those  in  advance  rushed  forward  to  find  an  explanation  of  the 
strange  sight,  it  was  given  them  in  the  form  of  halls  from  Indian 
muskets.  The  crow  was  tied  with  a  thong  so  that  it  was  a  com- 
panion of  the  dead  man  against  its  will.  These  men  were 
immediately  aware  that  they  were  in  ambush.  Before  they  could 
recover  from  their  surprise  and  horror,  many  of  them  were  killed 

and  several  cap- 
tured. The  sur- 
vivors retreated  as 
best  they  could  and 
were  supported  by 
the  arrival  of  the 
second  party  under 
Auckes  Van  Slyck. 
When  Adrian  Van 
Slyck  arrived  with 
his  New  York 
levies,  the  sight  of 
the  Indians  and  the 
dead  lying  about 
was  too  much  for 
them.  They  turned 
and  fled,  fairly 
pushing  the  earth 
from  them  and 
burning  the  wind 
in  their  haste  to 
reach  the  safety 
of  the  town.  Albert  Van  Slyck,  brother  of  Adrian,  who  lead  the 
levies,  in  writing  to  Colonel  William  Johnson — afterwards  Sir 
William — stigmatized  them  as  cowards. 

Finally,  all  the  four  detachments  from  the  town  had  arrived, 
and  the  fight  became  as  awful  and  furious  as  only  a  hand-to-hand 


Stent  of  Beukendaal  Fight. 


Beukendaal  /:i<>ht. 


59 


fight  with  Indians  could  become.  It  was  knife,  tomahawk,  clubbed 
musket  and  tight  finger-grips  of  throats,  with  the  settlers  ever 
striving  to  reach  the  DeGraaf  house. 


Beukendaal,  where  the  Settlers  lout  -Refine 


This  was  finally  accomplished  and  the  doors  and  windows 
were  barracaded.  The  settlers  went  up  stairs  and,  making  loop- 
holes just  under  the  eaves  by  pulling  away  the  hoards,  made 
things  so  hot  for  the  Indians  that  they  kept  out  of  range  of  the 
muskets,  for  they  well  knew  that  the  men  in  the  house  were  all 
sharp-shooters  and  that  each  boom  of  a  smooth  bore  and  crack 
of  rifle  meant  a  "good  Indian." 

Van  Yorst,  who  was  captured  at  the  time  Mr.  DeGraaf  was 
killed,  was  in  charge  of  two  young  bucks  who  were  so  greatly 
interested  in  the  fight  that  they  neglected  their  prisoner ;  he  there- 
fore managed  to  cut  his  bonds  and  escape.  When  Colonel  Jacob 
Glen  arrived  with  the  Schenectady  militia,  the  Indians  retreated 
and  started  for  Canada. 

The  killed  were,  Jacob  Glen,  Jr.,  Captain  Daniel  Toll,  Frans 
Van  der  Bogert,  J.  P.  Van  Antwerp,  Adam  Conde,  Adrian  Van 


6o  Old  Schenectady. 

Slyck,  John  A.  Bradt,  Johannes  Vrooman,  Daniel  Van  Antwerpen, 
Cornelius  Viele,  Jr.,  Nicolas  DeGraaf,  Lieutenant  Darling  and 
seven  of  his  men.  The  prisoners,  who  were  taken  to  Canada, 
were:  Harman  Veeder,  Isaac  Truax,  Albert  J.  Veeder,  Frank 
Connor,  J.  S.  Vrooman,  Lewis  Groot,  John  Phelps  and  six  of 
the  Connecticut  soldiers  under  Lieutenant  Darling. 

HISTORIC  FIRES. 
1690. 
The  only  enemy  more  dreaded  by  pioneers  in  the  early  days, 
than  the  Indian,  was  fire,  and  in  the  winter  of  1690,  the  brave 
little  pioneer  settlement  of  Schenectady  suffered  from  a  combina- 
tion of  both  enemies,  at  the  same  time;  for  the  historical  event 
pictured  in  the  geographies  of  thirty  years  ago,  as  "The  Burning 
of  Schenectady"  and  which  is  known  in  Schenectady  historically, 
as  "The  Massacre,"  took  place  in  that  intensely  cold  winter,  when 
the  French  and  Indians,  with  musket,  knife  and  tomahawk,  killed 
sixty  of  the  inhabitants ;  and  with  fire,  destroyed  all  but  two  of 
the  eighty  odd  buildings  within  the  stockade.  Fire  was  also 
used  on  the  living  bodies  of  some  of  the  wounded,  and  thirty  men 
and  youths  were  taken,  as  prisoners,  to  Canada.  The  two  houses 
spared  were  the  ones  into  which  the  wounded  French  officer,  de 
Montigny,  had  been  carried;  and  the  other  was  that  of  Major 
Glen.  Such  wholesale  destruction  of  homes  and  public  buildings 
by  fire  was,  in  those  days,  a  far  greater  calamity  than  would  be 
the  wiping-out  of  Schenectady  to-day.  To-day  there  would  be 
immediate  help  by  public  subscription ;  those  of  means  sufficient  to 
rebuild  could  soon  obtain  the  material  for  so  doing;  but,  in  1690, 
the  material  had  to  be  slowly  and  laboriously  cut  down  in  the 
forest  and  hewn  into  timbers ;  and  in  the  meantime,  as  all  the  men 
were  thus  employed,  there  was  no  one  to  provide  food  from  the 
forest  and  the  river.  That  the  people  remained  to  repair  their 
loss,  instead  of,  broken  in  spirit,  going  to  other  settlements, 
showed  the  "stuff"  of  which  the  old  pioneer  settlers  were  made. 
Schenectady  was  slow  in  those  days ;  it  is  slow  to-day,  when  com- 
pared with  other  places;  but  now,  as  then,  Schenectady  is  very 
tenacious  and  sure. 


Historic  Fires.  6 1 

1819. 

The  second  of  Schenectady's  great  fires  was  in  1819,  and  the 
greatest  from  the  standpoint  of  territory  burned,  but  not  from 
any  other;  for  the  destruction  of  1690  nearly  annihilated  the 
inhabitants  as  well  as  the  buildings  of  the  little  community. 

This  fire  started  in  a  tan-yard,  down  toward  the  end  of  Mill 
lane,  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  the  continuation  of  Ferry 
street,  where  the  long-since  disused  Conde  Mill  stands.  There 
was  a  strong  wind  blowing  from  the  south  and  the  fire  spread 
with  terrific  rapidity — the  more  so,  as  nearly  all  of  the  buildings 
were  of  wood,  and  the  method  and  means  of  fighting  fires  in  those 
days  were  most  primitive. 

In  1819,  the  law  required  each  inhabitant  to  provide  and 
keep  in  their  houses  leathern  fire-buckets,  properly  marked  and 
numbered,  so  that  they  could  be  returned  to  their  custodians.  As 
soon  as  there  was  an  alarm  of  fire,  the  people  were  required  to  set 
these  fire-buckets  out  in  front  of  their  houses,  so  that  those  who 
composed  the  volunteer  fire  department  and  such  other  citizens 
as  should  give  assistance,  might  find  them.  The  best  work  was 
then  done  by  a  bucket-line,  consisting  of  firemen  and  citizens, 
formed  in  line  to  the  nearest  water — whether  it  was  river,  cistern 
or  well — when  the  filled  buckets  were  passed  from  hand  to  hand 
and  returned  in  the  same  way,  empty.  So  it  is  easily  seen  that  to 
stop  tke  progress  of  so  great  a  fire,  forced  onward  by  so  strong 
a  wind,  with  such  primitive  fire-fighting  apparatus,  was  impos- 
sible. Soon,  the  flames  had  reached  State  street  and  then  they 
turned  down  toward  Washington  avenue  and  through  Church,  to 
Union  and  Front  streets,  not  burning  every  building  in  its  course; 
for  the  buildings  were  set  on  fire  by  flaming  brands  blown  by 
the  wind,  so  there  were,  here  and  there,  buildings  which  escaped. 

In  1 819,  Schenectady  was  a  river-port,  the  first  west  of 
Albany,  so  that  all  freights,  going  west  from  the  Hudson  river 
points,  were  conveyed  to  Schenectady  in  wagons  and  loaded  up 
on  boats  for  the  trip  up  the  Mohawk ;  and  the  reverse  was  the 
order,  when  the  products  of  the  western  part  of  the  State  were 


Historic  Fires.  63 

being  shipped  east.  The  shore  along  the  main  Binni  Kill  that  is, 
that  branch  of  the  river  lying  back  of  Washington  avenue,  was 
lined  with  great  storehouses  and  mercantile  establishments.  In 
fact,  the  wholesale  and  retail  trade  of  the  city  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  Washington  avenue  and  Front  street.  There  were  also,  con- 
siderable boat-building  yards  along  the  Binni  Kill  and  on  the 
main  river  back  of  Front  street.  The  great  lire  of  [819  changed 
all  this,  for  when  rebuilding  operations  began,  the  business-center 
of  Schenectady  moved  up  town;  and  up  town,  in  those  days,  was 
between  Ferry  street  and  the  spot  where  the  canal  is.  The  old 
business-center  then  became,  as  it  is  now  and  probably  will  be  for 
many  generations  to  come,  the  finest  residential  portion  of  the 
city.  This  is  as  it  should  be;  for  there  is  not  a  square  foot  of  the 
ground,  hounded  by  Union  and  Front  streets  and  Washington 
avenue  and  Ferry  streets,  about  which,  at  least,  one  item  of 
historical  interest,  or  old  family-anecdote  and  tradition,  could  not 
be  written. 

There  is  now  living  in  this  city,  in  HJ04,  one  resident,  who 
distinctly  remembers  the  fact  of  this  fire  of  1819.  That  is  Col. 
J.  Andrew  Barhydt,  of  No.  7  Church  street,  who,  in  his  ninety- 
first  year,  recalls  the  excitement  of  the  year,  when  he  was  but  five 
years  old. 

1861. 

In  its  Fire  Department,  Schenectady  has  ever  been  for  innate, 
from  the  organization  of  its  first  company  and  the  fact  that  its 
per  capita  loss,  by  fire,  has  always  been  less  than  in  any  other 
city  of  the  State.  It  is  evident  that  Schenectady  has  had  reason 
to  boast  of  and  to  he  proud  of  its  fire-fighters. 

While  the  picture  of  Protection  Hose  House,  No.  1.  and  the 
men  who  belonged  to  it  is  not  old,  when  compared  with  the  city 
and  some  of  its  families,  it  is  ancient,  as  far  as  the  Fire  Depart- 
ment is  concerned,  for  it  was  taken  in  i860. 

In  i860,  the  persons  who  had  the  temerity  to  drive,  for 
pleasure,  about  the  streets  of  the  city,  were  bounced  over  the  old- 
fashioned  cobble-stones,  which  chiefly  came   from   the   farms  of 


Organized  in   1S00. 


Historic  Fires.  65 

Glenville.     The  farmer  who  brought  in  a  load  of  these  stoneSj 

gathered  from  farm  land  on  the  sand  plains  above  the  fertile  river 
flats,  was  not  required  to  pay  toll  at  the  bridge  connecting  Glen- 
ville with  the  city. 

In  1800,  the  men  wore  hell-crowned  stovepipe  hats  and  the 
women  wore  "waterfalls"  and  wide-spread  hoopskirts.  They 
drank  Mohawk  river  water  and  never  guessed  that  it  was  not  fit 
for  washing  in,  to  sav  nothing  about  drinking  it ;  and  the  resultant 
diseases,  which  fattened  the  purses  of  the  physicians,  were  not 
traced  to  microbes  or  germs  of  the  Mohawk. 

In  t86o,  railroads  and  the  telegraph  were  an  established 
success  ;  but  the  man  with  sufficient  imagination  to  suggest  the 
telephone:  the  ability  to  send  electrical  messages  from  England 
to  America  through  the  air  and  to  make  the  wireless  system  of 
telegraphing  a  commercial  necessity,  would  have  excited  the 
sympathy  of  his  friends  and  relatives,  on  account  of  his  sad 
mental  condition.  The  trolley  car.  automobile,  phonograph  ;  the 
transmission  of  power  from  Niagara  and  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Hudson  over  many  miles  of  territory  for  manufacturing  purposes, 
were  not.  in  i860,  even  items  of  a  wine-supper  nightmare. 

Tn  1860,  Schenectady  was  the  broom-corn  center  of  the  world. 
and  the  making  of  brooms  was  its  greatest  industry.  Had  any  oi 
the  men  in  the  group  of  old-time  firemen,  been  told  that  broom 
corn-raising  and  broom-making  would  dwindle  to  tiny  propor- 
tions, and  that  the  locomotives  works  would  make  engines  for 
Japan:  that  it  would  receive  and  fill  orders  for  fifty,  a  hundred. 
and  even  two  hundred  engines  from  individual  railroads,  they 
would  have  expressed  their  pity  for  the  dreamer  in  strong  terms. 
Had  some  one  predicted  a  plant  in  Schenectady  for  the  manu- 
facture of  engines  to  be  driven  by  captured  lightning,  they 
would,  probably,  have  fled  to  the  woods,  as  the  only  refuge  from 
such  maniacs  :  and  should  the  same  person  have  predicted  that 
this  plant  would  employ  twelve  thousand  persons  and  pay  them 
$600,000  every  month — well,  even  the  imagination  of  the  twentieth 
century  cannot  conjecture  what  would  have  happened. 


66 


Old  Schenectady. 


The  men,  who  were  members  of  Protection  Hose,  when  this 
group  was  taken,  did  their  full  share  in  fighting  one  of  the  three 
historical  fires  of  Schenectady.  On  August  4,  1 861,  at  3  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  fire  was  discovered  in  the  broom-shop  of  Otis 
Smith,  which  stood  on  the  rear  of  the  lot  where  Mr.  Whitmyre's 
residence  is,  at  the  corner  of  Washington  avenue  and  Front  street. 
A  strong  gale  was  blowing  from  the  west  that  day,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  buildings  between  the  burning  shop  and  the 


1861.      Burning  of  First   Dutch   Reformed   Church,  Corner  Union   and   Church   Streets. 

Scotia  bridge,  with  but  one  exception,  were  destroyed.  Then, 
some  one  discovered  that  a  blazing  brand  had  been  carried  from 
the  broom-shop  to  the  tower  of  the  First  Reformed  Church,  two 
blocks  away,  on  the  corner  of  Union  and  Church  streets,  and  that 
the  church  was  a  mass  of  flames. 


Historic  Fires.  67 

The  men  were  already  nearly  exhausted,  for  the  lahor  of 
working'  the  breaks  on  one  of  those  old-fashioned  hand  fire- 
engines  was  heart-breaking.  Word  was  sent  to  Troy  and  Albany 
that  help  was  needed,  and  Troy  responded  by  getting  an  engine 
to  Schenectady,  while  the  church  was  still  burning.  The  wind 
increased  in  its  power,  and  another  brand  was  carried  from  the 
church  way  up  to  117  South  Center  street,  near  the  corner  of 
Franklin  street.  This  building  was  burned  and,  finally,  when 
another  brand  set  fire  to  the  building  on  Nott  terrace,  just  south 
of  the  German  Church,  the  men.  who  had  been  working  steadily 
for  hours,  were  nearly  ready  to  drop,  but  they  continued  and 
eventually  stopped  further  destruction. 

Protection    Hose-house   stood    on    the    south    side   of    State 
street,  the  first  building  from  the  corner  of  Center  street.     The 
names  of  the  men  in  the  group  are  as  follows :  T.  W.  McCamus 
Ephraim  Clowe,  deceased ;  T.  B.  Brow,  decased  ;  J.  J.  Spier,  J.  B 
Henry,    deceased ;    George    Hardin,    deceased ;    J.    E.    Taylor 
deceased ;   A   Wilhelm.  J.  J.   Giles,   Dan   Daley,   deceased ;  J.   J 
Parker,  J.  W.  Mais,  George  Shaible,  all  deceased;  J.  B.  Marsh 
Clinton  C.  Brown,  W.  Lawrence,  Alex.  McMillen.  A.  Ward,  J 
W.   Cleveland,   A.    15.    Swift,   L.    Rolff,    M.    B.    Van    Patten.   J 
Stevens,  J.  Bradt,  J.  W.  Sanders,  Joseph  Case.  Charles  Wilson 
John   Bronk,   Charles   Banna,   Marcus   Ahreet,    D.    M.    Putnam 
David  Reynolds,  deceased ;  E.  Fink.  Fred  Dunbar,  J.  H.  Wheelock 
John  Gow.  J.  Long,  William  Ades,    J.  L.    Hill,    Wilson    Davis 
John  Wendell,  J.  I.  G.  Fort.  O.  S.  Luffman,  C.  W.  Sanders,  J 
Hewis,  and  the  following,  all  of  these  deceased  :  E.  W.  Lien,  John 
Vedder,  Frederick  Vedder,  I.  V.  Reagles,  Giles  Marlette,  Vedder 
Van  Patten,  Jacob  DeForest,  Isaac  Cain.  C.  B.   Swart,  Charles 
Walley,  Howard  Barringer,  E.  L.  Lindley.  J.  H.  Draper,  H.  N. 
Vedder,  J.  A.  Van  Zandt,  Palmer  Egleston,  and  W.  L-  Goodrich. 


Chapter  IV. 
Ancient  Dwellings, 


MABIE  HOUSE. 

F  THE  very  old  house  still  standing  on  the  Brandywine 
mill  property  was  not  built  by  Adam  Vrooman,  the 
hero  of  the  massacre,  then  the  Mabie  house,  near 
Rotterdam  Junction,  is  the  oldest  dwelling  standing 
in  Schenectady  County.  As  this  point  in  connection 
with  the  Vrooman  house,  will  never  be  settled  any 
more  definitely  than  it  is  now,  it  is  safe  to  give  to  the 
Mabie  house  the  title  of  "Oldest." 
The  date  of  its  erection  is  not  known,  nor  have 
historians  been  able  to  do  more  than  ascertain  beyond  doubt  that 
it  was  standing  as  early  as  1706.  The  house  stands  on  a  bluff 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Mohawk  river  seven  miles  above  the 
city,  on  the  deepest  part  of  a  great  curve,  so  that  a  grand  view  up 
and  down  the  river  and  across  to  the  charming  Glenville  hills,  may 
be  had. 

This  old  house  is  built  of  heavy  stones  quarried  from  the 
hillside.  The  walls  are  laid  without  mortar,  just  as  a  stone  wall 
is  built,  only  the  fitting  of  the  stones  was  much  more  carefully 
attended  to.  The  outside  is  pointed  with  mortar  and  the  inside 
plastered.  These  heavy  stone  walls  are  built  to  the  height  of  one 
story  and  then  comes  the  typical  Dutch  peaked  roof  with  the 
second  story  and  attic  in  it.  As  in  all  of  the  old  houses  and 
mansions,  the  timbers  are  massive.  The  floor  of  the  second 
story  is  made  of  thick  plank  or  hewn  timbers  with  the  lower  side, 
which  forms  the  ceiling  of  the  first  floor,  planed  smooth.  Even 
the  window  frames  are  made  of  timber.  Major  MacMurray,  the 
editor  of  Pearson's  History  of  the  Schenectady  Patent,  who  was 


Mabie  House. 


69 


also  an  historical  investigator  of  repute  on  his  own  account,  had 
reason  to  believe  from  the  slight  hints  he  was  able  to  obtain  from 
old  documents,  that  this  house  was  buill  when  I).  J.  Van  Antwerp 


received  the  patent  for  the  farm  upon  which  the  old  Mahie  house 
stands.  This  would  fix  its  erection  hetween  the  years  1670  and 
1 680. 

Jan  Pieterse  Mabie  was  an  early  settler  in  the  village  of 
Schenectady,  his  village  lot  being  on  Church  street  next  to  the  lot 
upon  which  the  First  Dutch  Church  stands,  on  the  north  side  of 
it.  It  included  the  two  pieces  of  property  known  as  the  Washing- 
ton and  Benjamin  property,  that  is,  the  residences  of  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington and  Mrs.  Benjamin  arc  on  the  old  Mabie  property,  which 
in  his  days  had  a  frontage  on  Church  street  of  108  feet  and  a 
depth  of  206.  That  he  lived  on  this  property,  before  1690,  is 
shown  by  a  paper  confirming  his  ownership,  given  by  the  trustees, 
because  the  original  deed  was  burnt  on  the  night  of  the  massacre, 
1690. 


The  Arent  Bradt  House,   North   Side   Stale   Street  near  Washington  Avenue. 


Bradt  House.  71 

Jan  Mabie  owned  a  farm  of  sixty-three  acres  on  the  south 
side  of  the  river  where  the  old  house  stands.  This  lie  purchased 
from  D.  J.  Van  Antwerp  in  1706  and  it  is  still  in  the  Mabie  family 
although  not  now  occupied  by  members  of  it.  Jan  Mabie 
was  a  considerable  owner  of  property  elsewhere.  The  Mohawks 
gave  him  land  on  both  sides  of  Schoharie  creek.  His  wife,  Anna 
Borsboom,  owned  property  consisting  of  farm  land  and  a  village 
lot  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Front  street  and  Washington 
avenue,  all  of  which  she  inherited  from  her  father,  and  Mabie 
owned  farm  land  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  the  old 
house  called  Wolf  flat  near  what  is  now  known  as  Wolf  hollow. 
Later  he  became  possessed  of  considerable  pasture  land  between 
Front  street  and  the  river. 

BRADT  HOUSE. 

The  Bradts  of  Schenectady  are  descended  from  Arent 
Andriese  Bradt  who,  with  his  brother  Albert  settled  in  Albany; 
Arent  later  going  to  Schenectady  as  one  of  the  original  proprietors, 
in  1662.  He  died  that  year,  leaving  his  wife  and  six  children, 
three  of  whom  were  boys,  Andries,  Samuel  and  Dirk. 

The  first  son  was  a  brewer  at  the  time  of  the  massacre  when 
lie  was  killed  by  the  Indians.  His  son  Arent  and  a  daughter  sur- 
vived him.  This  son  was  known  later  in  life  as  Captain  Arent 
Bradt  who  was  one  of  the  distinguished  and  wealthiest  men  of 
his  day.  He  was  a  brewer  like  his  father  and  built  the  old  Bradt 
house  on  lower  State  street,  near  Washington  avenue  which  was 
standing  as  late  as  1895.  Captain  Bradt  was  a  member  of  the 
Provincial  Assembly  in  1745  and  a  trustee  of  Schenectady  for 
fifty-two  years,  from  171 5  to  1767,  the  latter  being  the  year  oi 
his  death. 

The  claim  to  ownership,  instead  of  trusteeship,  has  been 
referred  to  elsewhere,  but  it  was  not  stated  that  Captain  Bradt  did 
more  than  anyone  else  to  sustain  the  policy  of  "We"  as  opposed 
to  that  of  "I,"  of  the  Fifteen  Original  Proprietors.  Ryer 
Schermerhorn  was  the  trustee  who  tried  to  set  up  the  claim  of 


72 


Old  Schenectady. 


personal  ownership  and  although  he  was  a  relative  of  Captain 
Bradt,  he,  the  captain,  made  a  will  of  such  nature  that  it  would 
prevent  him  or  any  one  from  successfully  setting  up  such  a  claim 
in  the  future.  Ryer  Schermerhorn  and  several  illegitimate 
trustees  whom  he  appointed  to  succeed  his  father,  did  later  start 
a  suit  in  this  same  matter  and  the  will  of  Captain  Bradt  was  the 
stronghold  of  the  people.  Captain  Bradt  left  a  considerable 
fortune  to  his  three  sons,  Andries,  Johannes  and  Harmanus,  the 


nilt  in   1736. 


latter,  in  trade  with  the  Indians,  becoming  one  of  the  wealthy  men 
of  the  place  and  times.  These  three  sons  continued  to  live  on  the 
property  which  formed  the  original  village  lot  on  lower  State 
street. 

Samuel  Bradt,  a  brother  of  Arent  Bradt,  the  first  of  the  name 
in  Schenectady,  left  his  farm  of  thirty  acres  to  his  son,  Arent 
Bradt,  who  built  a  brick  house  upon  it  previous  to  or  in  the  year 
of  1736,  for  a  brick  in  the  front  of  this  house  bears  his  name  and 
that  date.     This  house  is  still  standing  and  in  good  repair,  near 


i^roumaii  House. 


73 


the  city  pumping  station  in  Rotterdam  and  just  north  of  the  home 
of  the  late  Congressman  Simon  Schermerhorn,  and  owned  by  his 
heirs.     It  is  a  good  sample  of  the  early  Dutch  farm  house  and 


Late   Eighteenth   Century  Miniatures   in   the  Bradt  Family. 

shows  the  characteristic  manner  of  laying  brick,  which  was 
popular  with  the  Dutch.  The  Bradts  were  all  owners  of  consider- 
able property  in  farm  lands  and  village  lots. 

VROOMAN  HOUSE. 

The  Yroomans  of  New  York  State  are  all  descended  from 
Hendrick  Mees  Vrooman,  who,  with  two  brothers,  Peter  and 
Jacob,  came  to  the  Dutch  Colony  previous  to  1677,  m  which  year 
Hendrick  moved  to  Schenectady  and  purchased  forty  acres  of  the 
Van  Curler  farm,  a  narrow  strip  beginning  near  Water  street 
and  extending  across  the  lowland  to  where  the  canal  and  New 
York  Central  Railroad  now  is,  back  to  near  the  bluff,  east  of 
Center  street.  His  village  lot  was  on  State  street,  between  Center 
street  and  the  westerly  tracks  of  the  Xew  York  Central  Railroad. 
As  the  brothers  died  without  leaving  children,  Hendrick  was  the 
founder  of  the  family.    Harmaus  was  killed  in  the  massacre. 

Adam,  Hendrick' s  son,  was  born  in  Holland  in  1649  and  in 
his  twentieth  year  was,  by  his  own  wish,  bound  to  Cornelis  \  an 
den  Berg,  of  Albany,  who  taught  him  the  trade  of  millwright. 
Adam's  wages  were  of  a  size  to  cause  heart  failure :  $32  and  a 
pair  of  new  shoes  the  first  year  and  $48  the  second  year. 

He  built  a  mill  for  himself  on  the  Sand  Kill  at  the  termination 
of  his   apprenticeship — where   the   pond   bordering    Brandywine 


74  Old  Schenectady. 

park  is  located — and  if  the  old  Dutch  house,  still  standing  and  in 
good  repair,  was  built  by  him,  it  is  the  oldest  dwelling,  now  used 
as  such,  in  the  state.  According  to  the  opinion  of  the  late  Judge 
John  Sanders,  the  historian,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 
Adam  Vrooman  did  build  this  house  near  his  mill.  It  is  a  matter 
of  fact,  that  he  built  the  mill ;  obtained  a  patent  for  the  Sand  Kill 
lands  from  the  Trustees  of  Schenectady  in  1708;  that  his  grand- 
son, Isaac,  died  in  the  house  in  1707 ;  and  that  Adam's  descendants 
occupied  the  house  and  property  as  late  as  1807.  so  it  is  quite 
probable  that  Judge  Sander's  belief  is  fact. 

In  the  attack  by  the  French  and  Indians  in  1690,  Adam 
V  rooman  was  the  only  one  of  the  settlers  who  deliberately  planned 
a  defence  of  his  home ;  the  other  settlers  seemed  to  be  too  over- 
come by  the  surprise  and  the  horror  of  the  night  to  do  anything 
definite  for  their  defence.  Adam  barracaded  his  home  and  fought 
so  desperately  that  the  commander  of  the  French  promised  bin; 
safety  if  he  would  surrender,  a  promise  the  more  readily  agreed  to 
by  the  Indians  as  he  was  well  known  by  the  Mohawks  through  his 
brother-in-law — that  Van  Slyck  whose  mother  was  the  daughter 
of  a  chief — and  there  was  the  additional  reason  for  being  willing 
to  spare  him,  that  he  was  a  friend  of  the  Glens.  Adam's  wife 
and  child,  his  father  and  brother  were  killed  in  the  massacre  and 
his  two  sons,  Barent  and  Wouter,  were  taken  to  Canada  as  cap- 
tives of  the  enemy. 

Adam  Vrooman  owned  a  great  deal  of  property.  He  owned 
the  site  of  the  present  village  of  Middleburgh,  and  in  171 5  began 
to  build  a  stone  house  upon  it,  two  stories  high.  This  house  was 
torn  down,  one  night,  by  Conrad  Weiser  and  his  Palatine  fol- 
lowers, so  Adam  returned  to  Schenectady  to  live.  He  had  thirteen 
children  to  whom  he  left  a  large  estate  and  an  enviable  reputation, 
his  death  occurring  in  February,  1730,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one 
years. 

The  Vroomans  of  the  old  days  were  men  of  large  frame  and 
great  strength.  Especially  were  the  four  grandsons  of  Adam : 
Peter,  Samuel,  Isaac  and  Cornelius,  known  for  many  miles  about 


Vrooman  House.  75 

for  their  great  strength.  Samuel  and  Cornelius,  tradition  says, 
as  a  test  of  what  they  could  do,  each  carried  between  eight  and 
nine  hundred  pounds  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  feet.  A 
sister  of  these  husky  boys  was  also  possessed  of  great  strength  for 
a  woman  and  a  degree  of  courage  that  was  remarkable.  One 
day,  a  man,  who  was  given  to  quarreling,  was  talking  with  her 
father  and  one  of  her  brothers  when  strong  words  were  passed 
from  one  to  the  other  and  back  again  with  interest  added.  Miss 
Vrooman,  fearing  that  should  either  her  father  or  brother  lay 
their  hands  upon  the  man  he  would  be  seriously  injured  or  possibly 
killed,  gathered  him  up  in  her  arms  and  threw  him  out  of  the 
house  through  the  doorway. 

That  the  Vrooman  family  is  numerous  and  that  members  of 
the  family  are  to  be  found  in  nearly  every  state  of  the  Union, 
although  descended  from  one  American  ancestor,  may  be 
attributed  to  the  very  large  families  of  the  immediate  descendants 
of  Hendrick  Mees  Vrooman,  the  original  ancestor. 


Chapter  V. 
Churches. 


FIRST  DUTCH  REFORMED  CHURCH. 

FIE  first  Dutch  Reformed  Church  building  in  Schenec- 
r|^  tady  was  built  at  the  expense  of  Alexander  Lindsey 
Glen  in  1684  and  given  by  him  to  the  little  community. 
When  the  men  who  settled  Schenectady  in  1662 
were  paving  the  way  for  the  founding  of  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  respectable  Dutch  Churches  in  New 
York  State,  tbere  were  but  five  churches  in  the  whole 
Colony.  They  were  in  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Flat- 
bush,  Kingston,  and  Albany,  or,  New  Amsterdam, 
Breuckleyn,  Midwout-and-Amersfort,  Esopus,  Beverwyck,  as 
they  were  then  called. 

Although  there  was  no  church  building  till  1684,  there  must 
have  been  a  church  organization  several  years  before  that  date, 
for  the  Rev.  Gideon  Schaets.  the  second  pastor  of  the  Dutch 
Church  in  Albany,  journeyed  from  that  city  to  Schenectady  once 
in  three  months  to  administer  the  sacraments.  This  was  in  1679, 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  organization  was  earlier  even  than  this 
date.  As  to  the  meeting  places  ;  the  living  room  in  every  house 
was  at  the  disposal  of  the  community  for  purposes  of  religious 
worship,  but  the  probability  is,  that  on  the  rare  occasions  when 
there  was  a  minister  over  from  Albany,  the  services  were  in  the 
large  room  of  the  fort,  or  the  blockhouse  in  the  fort. 

The  first  minister  of  the  Church,  the  Rev.  Petrus  Thess- 
chenmaeker,  was  called  to  Schenectady  in  1682,  according  to  one 
authority.  This  would  make  it  appear  that  he  began  his  pastoral 
duties  at  least  a  year  and  possibly  two  years  before  the  church 
building  was  erected  by  Mr.  Glen.     During  the  six  years  of  his 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  JJ 

pastorate,  the  tiny  church  organization  grew  numerically  and  in 
finances.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
of  Schenectady  was  in  a  healthy  condition  spiritually  and  tempo 
1  ally  from  the  start  and  has  continued  to  increase  in  strength 
down  to  the  present  day.  This  has  been  in  the  face  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  times  and  speaks  volumes  for  the  make-up  of 
the  congregation.  Its  only  strife  was  with  the  enemies  of 
Almighty  God  and  of  the  Colony. 

The  French  and  Indian  raid  of  1690,  which  resulted  in 
the  burning  of  Schenectady,  was  the  first  heavy  blow  to  the  con- 
gregation. Not  only  was  their  church  building  burned,  but  their 
faithful  minister  was  horribly  killed  and  his  body  burned.  It 
seems,  however,  the  French  commander  had  given  orders  that 
the  minister  was  to  be  kept  alive,  as  it  was  hoped  some  important 
information,  desired  by  the  French,  could  be  obtained  from  him; 
if  not  by  persuasion,  at  least  by  Indian  torture. 

The  times  were  uncertain  and  people  were  menaced  with 
dangers,  so  there  was  no  religious  service  led  by  a  minister  from 
the  terrible  night  of  February  Sando,,  1690,  till  1694,  when  the  Rev. 
( k>d friedus  Dellius,  of  Albany,  occasionally  visited  Schenectady 
during  the  five  succeeding  years,  he  making  eighteen  visits  in 
that  time.  In  1699,  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Nucella,  who  succeeded  Mr. 
Dellius  in  Albany  after  the  return  to  Holland  of  the  latter,  con- 
tinued the  visits  to  Schenectady.  In  the  time  these  two  ministers 
were  visiting  Schenectady,  seventy-six  children  were  baptized, 
seven  of  the  number  being  Indian  children,  twenty-five  persons 
joined  the  church,  and  twelve  couples  were  married.  The  peace 
of  Ryswick  in  1697,  began  a  new  era  for  the  people  of  the 
harrassed  settlement  and  for  the  church.  In  1700  the  Rev. 
Barnardus  Freeman  became  the  second  minister. 

Mr.  Freeman  was,  in  addition  to  being  the  minister  of  the 
Church,  missionary  to  the  Mohawk  Indians.  This  office  of 
missionary  to  the  Mohawks  was  not  alone  of  religious  importance, 
for  it  was  as  much  the  duty  of  the  missionary  to  keep  their 
allegiance  to  the  King  and  especially    to    the    Governor    of    the 


/8  Old  Schenectady. 

Colony  as  it  was  to  convert  them.  Mr.  Freeman  was  a  man  of 
mature  years  and  of  studious  habit.  When  he  found  how  neces- 
sary it  was  to  be  able  to  preach  and  talk  to  the  Mohawks  in  their 
own  tongue,  he  set  himself  to  learn  the  language.  This  he  did 
and  could  write  as  well  as  speak  it.  He  gained  such  a  strong 
hold  upon  that  sentiment  in  the  Indians,  which  in  a  white  man 
would  be  called  affection,  that  after  he  had  been  away  from 
Schenectady  five  years — his  pastorate  ended  in  1705 — they  asked 
the  Governor  to  appoint  him  to  be  located  at  their  Castle. 

The  minister  of  Schenectady  received  a  salary  of  $250  a  year 
in  those  days,  with  house  and  garden  and  pasture  for  his  cows  and 
horse,  free.  There  was  also  a  donation  of  sixty  cords  of  fire  wood. 
As  there  were  not  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants  in 
1700  it  will  be  seen  that  the  pay  of  the  minister  was  large  when 
their  number  is  considered,  and  of  course,  not  all  of  these  were 
adults. 

In  1 701,  Governor  Xanfan  granted  permission  to  the  church 
to  seek  subscriptions  from  all  over  the  Colony  for  the  building  of 
a  new  church,  to  replace  the  original  one  given  by  Mr.  Glen, 
which  was  burned  by  the  French  and  Indians  in  1690.  The 
money  was  obtained  and  the  second  church  building  was  erected 
upon  the  site  of  the  first,  at  the  junction  of  State,  Water  and 
Church  streets.  It  covered  a  ground  space  of  forty-six  by  fifty- 
six  feet  and  was  finished  before  the  end  of  1703.  It  was  used  as 
a  church  till  1734  when  it  was  given  up  by  the  congregation  and 
was  used  as  a  fort. 

Mr.  Freeman's  departure  in  1705  was  a  serious  event  for 
the  people,  for  besides  everything  else  which  made  it  desirable 
that  he  should  remain,  he  had  so  far  won  the  confidence  of  the 
Mohawks  that  he  had  considerable  influence  with  them.  For 
ten  years,  till  171 5,  the  congregation  had  no  minister  settled  over 
it,  but  in  the  ten  years  two  ministers  from  Albany — the  Revs. 
Johannes  Lydius  and  Petrus  Van  Driessen ;  Petrus  Vas,  of 
Kingston;  and  Gaulterius  DuBois,  of  New  York,  made  twenty- 


Pirst  Dutch  Reformed  Church. 


79 


four  visits  to  the  church  in  Schenectady,  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  children  being  christened,  nineteen  of  the  number  being 
Indians. 

The  third  minister  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Brouwer,  his 
pastorate  beginning  in  July,  1714.  lie  was  in  charge  of  the 
congregation  till  his  death  on  January  15,  1728. 

The  Rev.  Reinhardus  Erichzon  was  the  fourth  minister,  his 
pastorate  beginning  on  March  30,  1728,  and  ending  in  October, 
1736.  In  his  pastorate  the  vigorous  little  church  became  greatly 
increased  in  numbers  and  its  finances  were  so  much  improved  that 


The  Original   Dutch   Reformed   Church. 


a  really  pretentious  ehurch  building  was  erected  and  this  was 
done  without  seeking  aid  from  outside.  This  church  building — 
shown  in  the  picture — was  built  of  stone  at  a  cost  of  $2,919.73, 


8o  Old  Schenectady. 

one-third  of  that  sum  having-  been  collected  from  the  people  of 
the  valley.  This  was  the  third  church  building.  It  was  situated 
at  the  junction  of  Union  and  Church  streets  in  the  center  of  the 
streets,  not  on  a  lot.  The  material  was  shale-like  stone,  bear- 
ing traces  of  sandstone,  and  was  obtained  near  the  village.  The 
building  was  eighty  by  fifty-six  feet. 

In  1732  the  work  was  begun  by  Hendrick  Vrooman  who 
was  the  "baas,"  (incidentally,  this  Dutch  word  is  the  origin  of 
modern  "boss"  and  it  meant  exactly  the  same  thing  in  Dutch  that 
it  does  to-day  in  English),  and  a  considerable  gang  of  workmen 
under  him,  seventeen  of  the  whole  number  being  carpenters. 
The  record  says  that  Vrooman  received  seven  shillings  and  the 
other  workmen  from  five  to  six  shillings  a  day,  but  whether  the 
shillings  were  Sterling  or  York  is  not  stated.  If  the  former,  tin- 
pay  was  good,  $1.75  for  the  boss  and  $1.25  and  $1.50  for  the 
workmen,  being  higher  than  is  paid  to-day,  everything  considered. 
This  church  had  a  gambrel  roof,  a  bell  and  clock  tower  and  two 
entrances,  one  on  the  side  toward  the  east  facing  Union  street, 
and  the  other  on  the  south  end.  The  former  was  the  main 
entrance  and  opposite  it,  high  up  against  the  wall  on  a  single 
pedestal  was  the  pulpit  and  directly  over  it  was  the  sounding 
board.  The  arrangement  gave  the  appearance  of  a  gigantic 
jack-in-the-box  when  the  preacher  had  mounted  the  steps  to  the 
barrel-shaped  pulpit  and  the  suspended  sounding  board  resembled 
the  lid.  The  curious  old  custom  of  separating  the  men  from  the 
women  obtained.  The  men,  being  of  finer  clay  (?),  occupied 
raised  seats  along  the  sides  of  the  church  while  the  mothers,  wives 
and  daughters  were  seated  on  more  lowly  resting  places  in  the 
body  of  the  church,  where  the  men  could  obtain  a  good  raking 
view  of  them,  but  they  could  not  look  at  the  men  without  turning 
their  heads.  In  front  of  the  pulpit  was  a  railed-off  space  where 
the  minister  stood  when  administering  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 

The  seats  were  rented  to  men  for  five  shillings  and  to 
women  for  four  shillings  a  year.  A  seat  was  the  property  of 
the  person  who  paid  the  rent  and  it  belonged  to  his  heirs  after 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  81 

his  death.  Should  the  rent  not  be  paid,  the  seat  was  re-let  to 
someone  else,  the  new  occupant  paying  a  fee  of  twelve  shillings 
in  addition  to  the  annual  payment.  Failure  to  pay  the  rent  was 
the  only  cause  of  forfeiture.  In  1734  there  were  eighty-six 
men's  seats  and  two  hundred  and  eighteen  women's.  This 
causes  one  to  wonder  if  the  women  were  in  that  proportion  in 
excess  of  the  men,  or  if  then  as  now,  the  women  were  chiefly  the 
church  goers. 

From  the  building  of  the  church  till  fifty- 
eight  years  afterward  there  was  no 
means  of  heating  it  in  winter  save  by 
the  old-fashioned  foot- 
warmers,  and  these  were 
only  of  good  to  the  in- 
dividual whose  feet 

A  Church  "Furnace"  of  200  years  ago,  in  the  Sanders  Mansion.  rested    Oil    One 

In  1740,  the  church  had  a  bell  and  a  clock  in  its  tower.  The 
bell  was  in  use  till  1848  when  it  was  cracked  and  became  useless. 

On  August  3,  1743  the  church  was  chartered.  The  object  of 
this  was  to  give  the  congregation  corporate  powers  in  the 
matter  of  its  real  estate.  For  more  than  fifty  years  the  church 
had  been  accumulating  property,  but  the  church  as  such  could 
neither  hold,  sell  nor  purchase,  as  it  had  no  legal  existence,  hence 
the  charter. 

For  the  four  years  after  the  Rev.  Mr.  Erickzon  left,  the  Church 
had  no  settled  minister,  but  the  sacraments  were  administered  and 
the  pulpit  supplied,  by  two  Albany  ministers,  the  Reverends  Van 
Schie  and  Van  Dresser.  In  November,  1736,  the  Church  sent  to 
Holland  for  a  minister,  a  salary  of  £too  a  year  being  promised 
from  the  time  he  left  Holland  but,  although  two  years  were  spent 
in  an  effort  to  secure  a  minister,  the  representatives  of  the  Church 
were  not  successful.  In  November,  1738,  Levinus  Clarkson  and 
John  Livingston  being  in  Holland,  were  authorized  to  make 
renewed  efforts  to  secure  a  minister  and  another  two  years  passed 


82  Old  Schenectady. 

without  anything-  being  accomplished.  The  Church  then  deter- 
mined to  find  a  minister  at  home  so,  the  Rev.  Cornelis  Van  Sant- 
voord was  called  from  the  Staten  Island  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
where  he  had  been  settled  for  twenty-two  years.  The  Staten 
Island  Church  demanded  to  be  reimbursed  for  the  expense  of 
bringing  Mr.  Van  Santvoord  from  Holland,  the  Schenectady 
Church  objected  but,  finally,  the  matter  was  compromised  and  he 
came  to  Schenectady  in  August,  1740.  His  wife,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  John  Staats,  of  Staten  Island,  died  in  1744,  and  Mr. 
Van  Santvoord  remarried  in  1745,  his  second  wife  being  Elizabeth 
Toll,  of  Schenectady.  She  died  in  1747,  childless.  Mr.  Van 
Santvoord  was  a  man  of  cultivation  and  an  excellent  minister. 
He  was  a  fluent  speaker  in  the  English,  Dutch  and  French 
languages.  In  the  twelve  years  he  was  pastor,  the  membership 
was  increased  by  151  ;  174  couple  were  married ;  645  children  were 
baptized.  His  death  occurred  suddenly,  after  but  a  week's  illness, 
on  January  6,  1752.  Then  there  was  another  period  in  which 
the  Church  had  no  minister,  this  time  for  three  years,  the  pulpit 
being  occasionally  supplied  by  the  Revs.  Theo.  Frelinghuysen,  of 
Albany,  and  Barent  Vrooman,  of  New  Platz. 

The  death  of  the  minister,  Mr.  Van  Santvoord,  occurred  in 
January,  1752  and  from  that  date  till  1755  the  congregation  was 
without  a  minister,  the  occasional  preaching  being  done  by 
ministers  from  Albany  and  other  places.  In  1753  a  new  parsonage 
was  built  on  the  same  site,  now  the  site  of  the  church,  as  the 
former  occupied.  It  was  built  of  brick,  two  and  a  half  stories 
high,  the  brick  being  made  by  Jacob  Van  Vorst. 

On  November  17,  1754,  the  Rev.  Barent  Vrooman  was 
installed  as  the  sixth  minister  of  the  church.  Mr.  Vrooman  was 
born  in  Schenectady,  on  December  24,  1725,  and  was  the  great- 
grandson  of  the  original  settler  of  that  name.  He  was  the  first 
person  born  in  the  Colony  and  the  only  one  born  in  Schenectady, 
who  became  the  minister  of  the  church.  He  was  the  eleventh 
child  of  Wouter  Vrooman,  who  was  taken  a  captive  to  Canada, 
by  the  French,  the  day  after  the  massacre  of  1690. 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  83 

Mr.  Vrooman  began  his  theological  studies  under  the  Rev. 
Cornells  Van  Santvoord  and  finished  them  under  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  Albany.  In  175 1 ,  he  went  to 
Holland  to  continue  his  theological  education,  in  the  University 
of  Utrecht.  He  received  his  license  to  preach  in  January,  1752, 
and  was  ordained  by  the  classis  of  Utrecht  in  March,  1753,  and 
soon  after  returned  to  America.  After  a  brief  visit  with  relatives 
in  Schenectady,  be  began  his  duties  as  minister,  in  New  Platz, 
in  August,  1753.  The  congregation  included  Xew  Platz,  Sha wan- 
gunk  and  Wallkil  and  the  parish  extended  over  a  territory  of  200 
square  miles.  The  corner  stone  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
of  Xew  Platz  was  laid  by  Mr.  Vrooman  and  the  building  is  still 
worshipped  in.  In  the  month  following  his  installation,  as 
minister  of  the  New  Platz  Church,  the  First  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  of  Schenectady  gave  him  a  call. 

The  official  call  to  Schenectady  was  a  long,  complicated,  com- 
plex affair,  more  like  a  legal  document,  drawn  for  the  purpose 
of  confusing  and  impressing  the  uninitiated,  than  a  simple 
invitation  from  the  congregation  of  a  church,  to  a  minister,  to  come 
there  as  its  minister.  The  title  of  the  call  alone  required  forty-five 
words.  The  call  proper,  starts  off  with  the  seemingly  before 
unknown  fact,  that  the  Supreme  Being  rules  all  things  as  He  wills  ; 
that  "His  adorable  good  pleasure" — in  causing  the  death  of  the 
pastor — is,  "our  great  grief."  It  then  pays  several  pretty  compli- 
ments to  Mr.  Vrooman  and  his  family  and  makes  the  rather 
ambiguous  statement  that  the  call  was  given  to  Mr.  Vrooman  "in 
fear  of  the  Lord."  The  full  official  title  of  the  Church  is  then 
given  with  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  Consistory  with  the 
statement,  that  he  was  to  administer  his  office  in  accordance  with 
the  rules  of  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht.  Thus  the  call  was  made, 
but  by  no  means  finished,  for,  then  the  business  part  of  the  tran- 
saction was  taken  up  exhaustively.  His  "Reverence"  was  told 
what  he  will  be  expected  to  do  and  when  he  was  to  do  it ;  In  >\\ 
much  his  salary  would  be  and  the  number  and  kind  of  his  per- 
quisites.     Very   near  the   end,   he   is   given   the    following   title, 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  85 

which,  if  used  while  introducing  several  persons,  would  permit 
the  first  introduced  to  become  decrepit  before  the  last  person  had 
been  presented.  The  title  was  :  "The  Reverend-pious-and-learned 
Daren t  Vrooman." 

This  by  no  means  ended  the  complications  of  so  simple  a 
matter  as  the  inviting  of  a  man  to  become  the  minister  of  a  church, 
for  the  expenses  connected  with  a  call  were  large.  They  were 
borne  by  the  church  which  gave  the  call.  In  the  case  of  the  call  to 
the  Rev.  Barent  Vrooman,  the  Church  paid  £225  or  $563.  The 
items  will  be  of  interest  as  showing  how  really  serious  a  thing 
it  was  in  those  good  old  days  to  hire  a  new  minister. 

Cornelius  Van  Slyck  and  Isaac  Vrooman  were  paid  £5-12-0 
for  delivering  the  call. 

Joseph  R.  Yates,  for  the  use  of  his  horse  by  Philip  Reylie, 
for  twelve  days,  while  he  was  making  inquiry  in  regard  to  the 
coming  of  Mr.  Vrooman,  was  paid  £1-4-0. 

To  Gerret  H.  Lansing  and  Joseph  R.  Yates  *  *  * 
sent  to  New  York  to  request  Do.  Yrooman's  dismission  by  the 
Coetus  there,  in  the  presence  of  Do.  Vrooman,  which  was  fruit- 
less, £6-8-o. 

The  "Skipper"  was  paid  £1-13-0  for  bringing  Mr.  Vrooman's 
goods  from  New  York  to  Schenectady. 

Abraham  Mabie  and  Isaac  Vrooman  brought  the  new 
minister  from  New  Platz  to  Schenectady  and  were  paid  £12-0-0, 
they  having  been  gone  sixteen  days  with  their  horses. 

Claas  Van  Patten  for  shoeing  a  horse,  £2-6-0. 

It  required  three  ministers  to  dismiss  Mr.  Vrooman  and  to 
write  the  call  and  they  were  paid  £10-0-0  for  so  doing.  Now  this  is 
probably  the  secret  of  the  ponderousness  of  the  call,  for  when 
three  ministers  put  their  heads  together,  they  are  apt  to  think  in 
whole  paragraphs. 

£4-10-0  was  paid  for  the  hiring  of  a  sloop  to  bring  some  of 
the  new  minister's  goods  up  from  Sopus. 

Abraham  Mabie"' s  and  Isaac  Vrooman's  traveling  expenses 
were  £2-7-2. 


86  Old  Schenectady. 

'"To  £50  in  satisfaction  of  a  horse  from  the  churches  for  Do. 
Vrooman. 

£19-14-0  were  paid  to  the  New  Platz  church  and  £66-6-0  to 
the  churches  of  Shawangunk  and  Wallkil,  and  £43-0-0  to  the 
New  Platz  Consistory,  seemingly,  because  they  had  lost  their 
minister. 

The  Rev.  Barent  Vrooman  married  Alida,  a  daughter  of 
David  Vander  Heyden,  of  Albany,  in  January,  1760.  Their  three 
children  were,  David,  Maria  and  Walterus.  Mr.  Vrooman  was 
a  man  of  commanding  presence,  being  six  feet,  four  and  a  half 
inches  tall  and  was  broad  and  finely  proportioned.  He  was  a 
forcible  and  vigorous  preacher,  who  was  so  full  of  his  subject 
and  loved  it  so  well,  that  his  sermons  were  delivered  without 
notes.  He  was  warm  hearted,  affectionate  and,  as  a  preacher, 
possessed  the  power  of  appealing  to  the  affectionate  and  emotional 
side  of  his  auditors.  In  his  social  relations,  he  was  genial  and 
charming.  A  call  from  the  dominie  was  a  pleasure  in  each  home 
of  his  parish  and  out  of  it.  Mr.  Vrooman's  health  failed  in  1780, 
and  four  years  later  his  condition  was  so  serious  that  the  Rev. 
Dirck  Romeyn  was  called  as  assistant  minister.  Mr.  Vrooman 
died  in  November,  1784,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine  years.  His  wife 
survived  him  fifty  years  and  died  at  the  great  age  of  99,  in  1823. 

The  successor  of  the  Rev.  Barent  Vrooman  was  his  assistant, 
the  Rev.  Dirck  Romeyn,  who  came  to  Schenectady  in  August. 
1784,  and  was  the  seventh  minister. .  With  him  came  new  customs 
and  ideas  in  the  Church  and  City.  In  the  Church,  the  Dutch 
language  divided  the  honors  in  the  service  and  preaching,  with 
the  English  language.  The  minister's  salary  was  considerably 
increased  and  a  second  minister  was  called,  as  the  parish  was  so 
large  and  the  parishioners  so  widely  scattered.  In  the  city,  great 
advancement  was  made  in  the  schools  and  general  educational 
interests,  chiefly  through  the  personal  efforts  of  Mr.  Romeyn. 

Dirck  Romeyn  was  born  in  that  old  Dutch  village  of  Hacken- 
sack,  New  Jersey.  His  early  education  was  obtained  under  the 
instruction  of  his  older  brother,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Romeyn,  who 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  87 

was  minister  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Churches  on  the  Delaware, 
and  under  that  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Goetschius,  of  Hackensack. 
With  these  two  tutors  he  prepared  for  Princeton  College,  entered 
in  1763,  and  was  graduated  in  1765.  In  his  seventeenth  year 
he  became  a  church  member  and  decided  upon  the  ministry  as 
his  life's  work.  His  examination  in  theology  lasted  for  two  days 
and  resulted  in  his  ordination  in  May,  1766,  by  the  Revs.  J.  H. 
Goetsching  and  John  Schureman,  as  minister  of  the  united 
churches  of  Rochester,  Marbletown  and  Wawarsinck.  He 
remained  there  throughout  the  Revolutionary  war,  a  staunch 
patriot  and  fearless  champion  of  the  principle  of  no  taxation  with- 
out representation. 

After  peace  with  the  old  country  had  been  declared,  in  1784, 
Mr.  Romeyn  was  formally  called  to  Schenectady,  and  a  good 
thing  it  was  for  Schenectady  that  he  was  called,  for  Union  College 
was  located  in  Schenectady  through  his  efforts.  His  salary  was 
$350,  house,  pasture  for  two  cows  and  a  horse  and  seventy  cords 
of  fire  wood  delivered  on  his  premises.  The  salary  was  increased 
to  $500  in  1796,  and  in  1798  to  $625,  on  account  of  the  high  cost 
of  living. 

Mr.  Romeyn  was  large  like  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Vrooman, 
stately  in  manner  with  a  dignified  and  pleasing  presence.  Unlike 
Mr.  Vrooman,  Mr.  Romeyn  was  governed  by  his  intellect  rather 
than  his  heart  and  as  a  preacher  he  appealed  more  to  the  mind 
than  to  the  emotions,  but  at  the  same  time,  his  eloquence  often  had 
a  powerful  effect  upon  his  auditors. 

Within  a  few  months  after  his  installation  Mr.  Romeyn  began 
to  devote,  his  great  energy  to  the  improvement  of  the  educational 
interests  of  the  city.  That  the  Schenectady  Academy  was  begun 
in  1785,  was  almost  entirely  due  to  his  efforts. 

In  1794,  the  membership  of  the  church  was  so  large,  it  being 
the  only  Reformed  Church  in  the  town,  and  the  territory  covered 
by  the  homes  of  the  members,  being  so  extensive,  that  one 
minister  could  not  attend  to  all  of  the  pastoral  duties,  so  an 
assistant  was  called.  The  pay  was  a  salary  of  $500,  pasture  for 


88  Old  Schenectady. 

two  cows  and  a  horse,  or,  in  lieu  $62  yearly,  and  half  the  per- 
quisites of  the  office. 

The  Rev.  Nicholas  Van  Vranken,  of  Fishkill,  was  called  but 
he  refused,  because  a  house  was  not  included.  Jacob  Sickles,  a 
theological  student  was  appointed.  He  began  his  duties  in 
October,  1795,  and  ended  them  in  the  summer  of  1797.  From  this 
year  till  1802,  Mr.  Romeyn  was  without  an  assistant.  In  1802 
Mr.  Romeyn's  health  had  so  greatly  failed  that,  by  mutual  con- 
sent, his  salary  was  reduced  to  $520  a  year  and  he  was  only 
required  to  preach  once  on  Sunday,  in  the  Dutch  language.  In  the 
spring  of  1802,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Meier,  of  New  Platz  was  called  as 
as«-i<:ant.  Mr.  Romeyn  died  in  1804,  at  the  age  of  sixty.  His 
wife,  Elizabeth  Broadhead,  died  in  1815,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four.  Their  son,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Romeyn,  was  pastor  of  the 
Cedar  Street  Church,  in  New  York  and  their  daughter,  Catherin, 
married  Caleb  Beck,  of  Schenectady. 

It  has  been  said,  that  in  Mr.  Romeyn's  pastorate  the  church 
service  was  in  both  Dutch  and  English.  In  February,  1794,  the 
Consistory  resolved,  that,  so  long  as  there  were  twenty-five  sup- 
porting families  in  the  Church  who  understood  Dutch  better  than 
any  other  language,  the  sermon  should  be  in  Dutch  at  one  service 
and  in  English  at  the  other,  and  that  the  weekly  evening  lecture 
should  be  in  a  different  language  from  the  Sunday  evening 
sermon. 

This  was  caused  by  the  growing  popularity  of  English.  The 
majority  of  the  younger  portion  of  the  congregation  understood 
and  spoke  English  better  than  they  did  Dutch.  In  the  Episcopal 
and  Presbyterian  Churches  the  service  was,  of  course,  in  English 
and  it  was  feared  that  that  fact  would  attract  the  young  people. 
The  older  members  were  so  intensely  Dutch  that  the  English 
sermon  did  not  give  great  satisfaction  so,  five  months  later,  the 
resolution  adopted  by  the  Consistory  was  changed,  so  that  the 
sermon  should  be  in  English  every  alternate  Sunday  at  one  of  the 
two  day  services  and  that  the  Sunday  evening  sermon  should  be 
in  English. 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  89 

In  March,  1798,  the  young  people  were  again  flirting  with  the 
Episcopal  and  Presbyterian  Churches.  This  caused  the  older 
people  to  conclude  to  violate  their  feeling  and  ears  by  listening 
more  frequently  to  sermons  preached  in  English.  The  clerk  was 
required  to  hire  an  English  clerk,  at  his  own  expense,  to  serve  on 
the  days  when  the  service  was  in  that  language.  In  1799,  wonder 
of  wonders,  Mr.  Yates  was  authorized  to  purchase  eight  English 
Bibles  and  half  of  the  service  for  two  successive  Sundays  was  to 
be  in  English  and  on  the  third  Sunday,  entirely  in  Dutch.  Those 
persons  who  are  acquainted  witli  the  tenacity  of  purpose  of  the 
descendants  of  those  fine  old  Dutchmen  and  women,  may  guess 
that  the  third  Sunday  was  anticipated  with  as  great  eagerness  as 
the  newly  admitted  attorney  anticipates  his  first  fee. 

It  may  be  remarked  parenthetically,  that  it  is  extremely  odd 
that,  since  their  grand,  and  great-grand  parents  were  so  passion- 
ately, almost  stubbornly  devoted  to  the  mother-tongue,  there  is 
not  one  of  their  descendants  living  in  Schenectady  in  1904  who 
can  read  the  letters  and  documents,  written  in  the  Dutch  language 
vears  ago — and  there  is  many  a  chest  full  of  them  in  many  an 
attic — or  speak  the  Dutch  language  of  those  days.  There  is  a  bit 
of  subtile  humor  in  the  fact,  that  the  only  person  in  Schenectady, 
living  in  the  past  decade,  who  was  at  all  proficient  in  reading  the 
old  Dutch,  was  a  Scotchman,  the  late  Alexander  Thomson. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Romeyn,  the  Rev.  John  H.  Meier 
became  the  minister  of  the  Church.  Mr.  Meier  was  born  in 
Pompton,  New  Jersey,  in  October,  1774.  He  was  graduated 
from  Columbia  College  in  1795  and  studied  theology  with  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Livingston.  In  1798,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  and 
was  called  to  the  New  Platz  Church,  New  Platz  seemingly  being 
a  training  school  for  Schenectady  ministers.  In  1802,  he  was 
called  to  Schenectady,  as  Mr.  Romeyn's  assistant  and  in  1804,  he 
became  the  minister.  His  pay  was  a  salary  of  $662.50  a  year  with 
a  house,  but  nothing  was  mentioned  about  pasturage  for  cows 
and  a  horse,  nor  of  wood. 

Mr.  Meier  was  a  young  man  of  agreeable  manners,  who  was 


90  Old  Schenectady. 

well  liked  out  of  the  congregation  as  well  as  in  it,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  he  was  rather  reserved.  He  was  notable  for  his 
veneration  and  sympathy.  His  death  occurred  at  the  end  of  his 
second  year  as  pastor,  in  1806,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two. 

For  two  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Meier  the  Church  was 
without  a  minister,  the  pulpit  being  supplied  by  men  from  other 
places.  In  July,  1807,  a  son  of  a  former  minister,  the  Rev.  John 
B.  Romeyn,  was  called,  but  he  did  not  accept  the  call  with  its 
house,  firewood  and  $1,000  a  year. 

In  1808,  the  Rev.  Cornelius  Bogardus,  was  called  and 
accepted.  Mr.  Bogardus  was  born  in  September,  1780.  He,  too, 
was  one  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Livingston's  students.  He  was  installed 
as  minister  of  the  First  Reformed  Church,  of  Schenectady,  in 
November,  1808,  that  being  his  first  parish.  He  was  a  man  of 
fine  presence  and,  although  not  the  equal  of  some  of  his  pre- 
decessors as  a  speaker,  he  was  considered  a  strong  preacher  and, 
had  he  lived,  would  probably  have  become  noted.  He  died  in 
December,  1812,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  It  was  in  his  pastorate 
that  the  church  building  was  first  used  for  the  Fourth  of  July 
celebration.  This  was  in  181 1.  In  granting  the  request  for  the 
use  of  the  building,  the  Consistory  stipulated  that  there  should 
be  no  instrumental  music,  nor  anything  said  which  would  give 
offence  to  any  political  party. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Jacob  Van  Vechten  was  the  next  minister,  his 
pastorate  beginning  in  181 5.  Up  to  his  coming,  there  had  been  no 
long  terms  as  ministers  of  the  Church,  but  in  his  case,  it  was 
different,  for  his  pastorate  continued  for  thirty-four  years.  Mr. 
Van  Vechten  was  born  in  Catskill,  in  September,  1788.  He  was 
a  descendant  of  the  first  settler,  Tennis  Dirkse  Van  Vechten,  who 
came  to  the  Dutch  Colony  in  America,  with  his  wife,  one  child 
and  two  servants,  in  1638.  In  1648,  he  owned  a  farm  in  Green- 
bush,  opposite  Albany. 

Dr.  Van  Vechten's  early  education  was  obtained  in  Catskiil 
and  later  in  the  Kingston  Academy.  He  prepared  for  Union 
College  with  the  Rev.  Alexander  Miller,  a  former  minister  of 


Pirst  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  91 

the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Schenectady.  Dr.  Van  Vechten 
entered  Union  in  1805,  and  was  graduated  in  1809.  When  he 
entered  college,  he  intended  to  study  law  and  so,  soon  after  being 
graduated,  he  entered  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Abraham  Van 
Vechten,  of  Albany.  He  gave  up  the  law  in  a  few  months  and 
began  to  study  for  the  ministry,  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of 
the  Scotch  Church,  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  M.  Mason,  of  New 
York,  and  later,  in  New  Brunswick  Theological  Seminary.  In 
1814,  he  was  licensed  to  preach. 

Mr.  Van  Vechten  was  married  twice — his  first  wife  was 
Miss  Catherin  Mason,  a  daughter  of  his  preceptor,  and  the  second 
was,  Miss  Van  Dyck,  daughter  of  Abraham  Van  Dyck,  of 
Coxackie.  Mr.  Van  Vechten  was  not  robust,  as  a  youth,  and  as 
time  went  on,  his  health  did  not  improve.  In  1823,  he  went  to 
Europe  and  was  gone  a  year  and  returned  somewhat  improved 
in  health.  Williams  College  gave  him  the  degree  of  D.  D.,  and 
in  1837,  he  was  senior  trustee  of  Union  College.  In  1849,  ms  ^ac^ 
of  health  caused  his  resignation.  From  that  time,  till  his  death 
in  1 87 1,  he  devoted  himself  to  literature. 

In  1792  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nicholas  Van  der  Volgen  presented 
the  Church  with  several  fine,  large  chandeliers  of  brass  and  the 
same  year  a  great  innovation  was  made  in  an  attempt  to  heat  the 
church.  The  attempt  was  as  great  a  failure  as  it  was  great  in 
its  novelty.  In  December  of  that  year  two  stoves  were  purchased 
and  placed  in  the  church,  not  on  the  floor,  but  on  two  platforms 
as  high  as  the  gallery,  their  knowledge  of  thermotics  being,  not 
only  primitive  but  upside  down.  They  evidently  believed  that 
heat  waves  descended.  The  result  was,  that  while  the  boys  and 
negro  slaves  in  the  gallery  were  hot  the  congregation  down  on 
the  floor  of  the  church  were  cold.  Finally  the  stoves  were 
lowered  to  the  floor  where  they  gave  satisfaction.  In  1797,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Van  der  Volgen  again  showed  their  generosity  by 
giving  to  the  Church  money  for  the  purchase  of  an  organ.  This 
money  was  left  to  accumulate  till  about  1826  when  an  organ  was 
purchased  from  Henry  Erban,  of  New  York,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  93 

The  duties  of  the  klokhiyer,  or  sexton,  were  to  ring  the  bell, 
as  the  word  klokhiyer  signifies,  to  keep  the  interior  of  the  church 
in  proper  order  and  to  dig  graves  and  fill  them  in  after  the  burial 
ceremony.  The  dual  office  of  "voorlezer"  and  "voorsanger" 
was  united  in  the  person  of  the  clerk.  The  duties  of  this  person 
were  fixed  and  defined  by  the  consistory.  Generally  speaking,  he 
opened  the  service  by  reading  the  commandments,  a  chapter  from 
the  Bible  and  a  hymn  or  psalm,  in  ihe  morning,  and  in  the  after- 
noon substituting  the  creed  for  the  commandments,  otherwise 
the  same  form  was  carried  out.  In  addition,  this  voor-person 
had  "the  right  and  emoluments  of  burying  the  dead  of  the  con- 
gregation." This  could  not  have  been  any  very  great  source  of 
income  for  those  old  Dutchmen  were  slow-livers  and  long-livers 
and  the  habit  acquired  then  obtains  to-day. 

The  First  Reformed  Church  has  ever  been  the  exponent  of 
good  music  in  Schenectady.  In  1794  the  Consistory  adopted  a 
resolution  which  would  have  the  effect  of  improving  the  singing 
and  increasing  the  number  of  singers.  This  was  to  be  accom- 
plished by  Cornelius  DeGraaf,  the  chorister,  who  should  urge 
parents  to  send  their  children  to  him  for  instruction,  at  the  rate 
of  thirty-five  cents  a  month  to  which  would  be  added  an  equal 
sum  by  the  Consistory.  Then  the  Consistory  then  tacked  on  to 
the  resolution  a  "rider"  in  which  was  all  the  meat  of  the  purpose  of 
the  resolution.  It  was  that  Mr.  DeGraaf  should  try  to  keep  better 
time  and  that  he  should  "soften  his  voice  as  much  as  possible." 
There  is  a  tradition  that  when  Mr.  DeGraaf  sat  on  his  back 
stoop  expanding  the  atmosphere  by  "singing  psalms  to  beguile 
the  evening  hours,  his  voice  could  be  clearly  heard  two  miles  up 
the  river  in  a  straight  line."  When  it  is  remembered  that  this 
volume  of  sound  progressed  up  the  river  against  a  four  mile 
current,  the  value  of  such  a  voice  in  the  person  of  a  twentieth- 
century  campaign  "orator"  must  be  appreciated  and  the  sufferings 
of  his  friends  and  neighbors  may  be  guessed  at. 

In  1805,  the  church,  which  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  junc- 
tion of  Union  and  Church  streets,  was  in  need  of  repair  and  too, 


94  Old  Schenectady. 

the  fact  that  it  was  in  the  street  was  considered  to  be  an  evidence 
of  lack  of  progress.  Nothing  definite  was  done  till  1810  when 
the  Consistory  appointed  a  committee  to  investigate  the  feasibility 
of  repairing  the  church  and  another  committee  to  draw  plans  for 
a  new  church.  The  new  church  building  was  decided  upon,  not 
however,  without  opposition  and  heart  burnings  on  the  parts  of 
those  who  clung  to  the  old  church  through  sentiment  and  affec- 
tion, they  having  taken  part  in  the  sacrifices  and  struggles  for 
its  erection.  There  was  also  opposition  from  those  who  felt  that 
the  new  building  should  be  located  further  east,  as  the  city  had 
grown  in  that  direction.  The  site  finally  settled  upon  was  what 
was  known  as  the  old  parsonage  lot  and  is  the  site  of  the  present 
handsome  church  building. 

Before  the  site  had  been  settled  upon  the  Great  Consistory 
had  determined  that  a  satisfactory  manner  for  deciding  whether 
the  old  church  should  be  repaired,  or  a  new  one  built  would  be, 
that  if  subscriptions  for  $4,000  were  obtained  within  four  weeks 
from  the  date  of  the  meeting  of  the  Great  Consistory,  a  new 
church  should  be  built ;  if  that  sum  was  not  subscribed,  then  the 
old  church  should  be  repaired.  This  resulted  in  the  subscription 
of  $3,379.50  in  cash  and  243  days  of  work. 

The  land  upon  which  the  first  church  was  built  by  Alexander 
Lindsey  Glen,  in  the  little  square  at  the  end  of  Church  street,  on 
State  street,  and  the  site  of  the  second  church  building,  at 
the  junction  of  Church  and  Union  streets,  still  belonged  to  the 
Church.  It  was  decided  to  sell  these  sites  to  the  city,  to  be  dedi- 
cated to  the  use  of  the  public  forever,  to  help  the  building  opera- 
tions. The  price  paid,  was  200  acres  of  land  worth  at  least  $10 
an  acre.  On  December  3,  1812,  the  contracts  for  the  new  church 
building  was  signed.  The  contract  for  the  mason  work  and 
material  was  let  to  David  Hearsey  and  Thomas  McCully,  for 
$4,570;  the  contract  for  carpenter  work  and  finishing  was  let  to 
Joseph  Horsfall  and  Garret  Benson  for  $5,800. 

The  site  of  the  new  church  was  on  property  which  had  been 
used  by  the  Church  and  was  known  as  the  parsonage  lot,  at  the 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  95 

north-east  corner  of  Union  and  Church  streets,  where  the  present 
really  beautiful  and  dignified  church  stands.  The  ground  area 
was  57  by  96  feet.  It  was  a  plain  building-  built  of  brick  with 
a  tower  and  cupola  on  the  Union  street  front.  The  main  entrance 
was  in  the  tower  and  there  were  two  other  doors,  one  on  either 
side  of  the  tower  directly  opposite  the  ends  of  the  aisles.  The 
bell  of  the  old  church  hung  in  the  belfry.  At  this  period  of  the 
Church's  history,  English  customs  were  rapidly  supplanting  the 
good  old  Dutch  customs,  which  were  rather  conservative ;  so, 
instead  of  separating  the  sexes,  as  was  the  Dutch  custom,  the 
seats  were  arranged  without  regard  to  sex.  The  floor  of  the 
church  was  divided  by  three  aisles ;  one,  broad  and  in  the  middle, 
with  pews  on  either  side,  and  two  narrower  side  aisles,  separating 
the  pews  from  family  "slips"  which  were  against  the  side  walls 
and  "fenced"  in,  as  was  the  old  custom.  The  gallery  was  over 
the  main  entrance.  In  it  were  the  choir  and  organ,  seats  for 
casual  worshipers  and  for  negroes.  The  pulpit  was  against  the 
wall  opposite  the  gallery.  On  November  20,  1814,  the  last  service 
was  held  in  the  old  building. 

This  must  have  been  a  solemn  and,  for  the  older  members  of 
the  congregation,  a  sad  event.  The  building  they  were  about  to 
abandon  was  the  link  connecting  the  ancient  with  the  beginning 
of  the  modern.  It  was  built  in  1734  and  worshipped  in  by  many 
persons  who  were  children,  or  who  were  born  when  the  original 
fifteen  settlers  began  the  town,  in  1662.  The  church  about  to  be 
given  up,  had  been  the  house  of  worship  in  the  stirring  times  of  the 
French  and  Indian  War,  and  the  funerals  of  those  who  were 
killed  in  the  Beukendaal  fight  were  held  in  it.  Then  came  the 
terrible  times  of  the  Revolution,  when  many  a  self-sacrificing 
patriot  was  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  his  neighbors  to  his  grave, 
from  this  old  church.  But,  in  1812,  the  United  States  of  America 
was  progressing  by  leaps  and  leaps.  The  young  State  rather 
scorned  the  ancient  Colony.  The  Nation  felt  itself  to  be  very 
strong  and  big  and  it  was  about  to  prove  that  this  feeling  was  an 
actual  condition  by  entering  for  the  second  time  into  a  war  with 


96 


Old  Schenectady. 


its  grand  old  parent,  Great  Britain.  So,  while  the  oldsters  were 
weeping  because  the  "king  is  dead"'  the  youngsters  were 
enthusiastically  shouting,  "long  live  the  king." 

The  old  church  of  1734  was  sold  to  Henry  Yates  and  Charles 
Kane  for — a  mess  of  pottage — $442.50. 

The  destruction  of  the  church  building  of  1814,  in  1861,  has 
been  described  under  the  caption  of  Calamities.     After  this  fire, 

a  portion  of  the 
congregation  ad- 
vocated rebuild- 
ing and  enlarging 
upon  the  old 
walls  left  stand- 
ing, but  they 
were  compara- 
tively few.  The 
m  embers  who 
looked  toward  the 
future  advocated 
the  erection  of  an 
entirely  new 
building.  It  is 
only  necessary  to 
look  at  the  beauty 
and  dignity  of  the 
present  church 
building  to  ap- 
p  r  e  c  i  a  t  e  how 
great  would  have 
been  Schenec- 
tady's loss,  had  the  advocates  of  rebuilding  upon  the  old  walls 
carried  the  day.  The  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  Schenec- 
tady is  among  the  finest  specimens  of  perfect,  dignified  ecclesi- 
astical architecture  in  the  United  States.  No  individual  has  done 
more   for    Schenectady   than    its   architect,    Edward   Tuckerman 


The  First   Dutch   Reformed   Church. 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  97 

Potter.  It  is  a  church  building-  that  will  be  appropriate,  dignified 
and  beautiful  for  all  time.  Although  there  is  nothing  ancient 
about  this  building,  except  the  Church  organization — which  came 
into  existence  224  years  ago — a  description  of  it  will  be  given, 
which  is  taken  from  one  published  at  the  time  the  building  was 
completed. 

The  church  and  consistory  room  form  two  sides  of  a  square, 
with  the  opening  of  the  angle  opposite  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Church  streets,  the  entrance  to  the  consistory  room  being  from 
Church  street  and  that  to  the  church,  from  Union  street.  In  the 
angle,  stands  the  tower,  topped  by  a  lofty  spire  which,  with  the 
tower,  is  170  feet  high.  The  outside  measurements,  including  the 
buttresses,  on  the  ground  are:  113  feet  north  and  south  by  116 
feet  east  and  west. 

It  is  built  of  a  purplish-gray  stone  with  trimmings,  chiefly 
of  Connecticut  brown  stone  and  other  varieties,  in  composition 
and  color.  The  tracery  of  the  large  rose  window  over  the  main 
entrance  is  of  Caen  stone.  At  either  side  of  the  main  entrance, 
or  Congregation's  door,  are  polished  shafts  of  red  granite  resting 
upon  bases,  and  with  capitals  of  Nova  Scotia  stone.  The  capi- 
tals are  carved  in  bold  relief  with  representations  of  the  produc- 
tions of  the  soil  of  the  Mohawk  valley.  Over  the  door  is  carved 
the  text  from  the  Bible:  "I  have  brought  in  the  first  fruits  of  the 
land,  which  thou,  O  Lord,  hast  given  me." 

In  accord  with  a  very  old  Dutch  custom  one  of  the  side  en- 
trances is  call  the  Bride's  door.  Over  this  door  is  a  small  trip- 
let window  with  small  shafts  of  polished  marble,  the  capitals  of 
which  are  carved  to  represent  orange  blossoms.  Over  the  door 
is  the  legend :  "His  banner  over  me  was  Love."  The  other  minor 
entrance,  on  the  eastern  side,  is  called  "Forefather's  door"  and  the 
text  carved  over  it  is :  "The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us  as  He  was 
with  our  fathers. 

The  interior  dimensions  are :  The  church  proper,  60  by  100 
feet;  consistory  room  30  by  50  feet;  tower,  16  by  16  feet.  The 
church    and    consistory    room  have    open-timbered    roofs.     The 


98  Old  Schenectady. 

organ  and  choir  are  behind  the  pulpit.  Opposite  the  pulpit,  over 
the  main  entrance,  is  a  small  gallery,  only  used  when  the  occasion 
attracts  more  persons  than  can  be  seated  in  the  body  of  the  church. 

The  consistory  room  opens  into  the  church  at  the  end  near 
the  pulpit  and  choir.  A  massive  screen  of  carved  black-walnut 
and  plate  glass  separates  the  church  from  the  room.  This  screen 
is  30  feet  wide  and  40  feet  high.  The  pulpit  is  made  of  veined 
green,  variegated  yellow  and  mottled  dark  red  marbles,  that  were 
quarried  on  the  Jura  Alps,  in  France,  and  are  encased  in  black 
walnut.  The  carvings  on  the  pulpit  are  ornate ;  the  text  is  "We 
preach  Christ  crucified."  The  rose  window  at  the  south,  has  the 
arms  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  and  two  windows  in  the 
consistory  room  have  the  arms  of  the  Clute  and  Cuyler  families. 
The  four  stained  windows  of  the  tower  have  representations  of 
the  four  previous  church  buildings.  The  sill  of  the  gate,  in  front 
of  the  "Bride's  door"  is  the  threshold  of  the  old  church  of  1734. 
There  are  many  more  fine  carvings  and  texts  than  have  been 
mentioned. 

There  are  few,  if  any,  churches  in  New  York,  which 
possessed  in  so  early  a  day  so  much  land  as  did  the  First  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  Schenectady.  1740  it  owned  twelve  square 
miles  of  land.  This  property,  if  still  in  the  possession  of  the 
Church,  would  be  of  great  value,  but  it  is  not.  Much  of  it  was 
sold  for  the  running  expenses  of  the  Church  and  some  of  it  was 
given  to  the  friends  and  relatives  of  influential  members  of  the 
congregation,  just  as  the  same  thing  would  be  done  in  the 
twentieth  century. 

Besides  the  property  at  State  and  Water  streets,  where  the 
original  church  building  stood  and  that  at  the  junction  of  Union 
and  Church  streets,  Avhere  the  third  church  stood,  the  Church 
owned  by  bequest  from  Van  Valsen,  his  valuable  mill  property 
fronting  on  State  street  and  bounded  on  the  south  by  Mill  lane, 
about  six  acres  in  all.    All  of  these  nronerties  were  in  the  village. 

Out  of  the  village  there  was  the  "Poor  Pasture"  lying  between 
the  line  of  Front  street  and  the  river  in  the  neighborhood,  probably. 


First  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  99 

of  the  canal  and  New  York  Central  Railroad.  The  east  and  west 
boundaries  given  mean  nothing  to  the  present  generation,  so  the 
general  location  is  all  that  can  be  given.  The  boundaries  were: 
"the  Fonda  place  on  the  west  and  College  creek  on  the  east,  which 
in  those  days  was  called  "Hansen  kil."  This  property  included 
thirty-six  acres.  In  1806  the  Church  bought  sixteen  acres  to  the 
east  of  the  "Poor  Pasture"  for  $1,750,  from  Harmanus  Van 
Slyck.  In  1863  tne  fifty-two  acres  were  sold  for  $11,000.  The 
"Poor  Pasture"  was  given  to  the  Church  by  Hans  Janse  Eenkluys, 
a  soldier  in  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company.  He 
was  in  Schenectady  in  1668  and  died  there  in  1683.  In  1714  the 
Church  obtained  possession  of  what  was  known  as  the  Sixth  Flat, 
seven  miles  from  the  village  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Mohawk, 
east  of  the  Verfkil,  or  Paint  creek,  not  far  from  Hoffman's  Ferry. 
The  property  included  fourteen  acres  of  the  flats  and  twenty 
acres  of  woodland  just  back  of  it.  In  the  same  year  the  Church 
obtained  possession  of  a  piece  of  woodland  on  what  is  now  the 
road  to  the  Aqueduct,  at  a  point  opposite  the  lower  bridge.  In 
1638  the  Church  obtained  by  patent  2,421  acres  in  Niskayuna 
which  was  increased  in  1754  by  1,200,  making  in  all  3,621  acres. 


Chapter  VI. 
Churches. 


ST.  GEORGE'S  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH. 

(  )(  )N  after  the  Colony  of  New  Amsterdam  became 
the  Colony  of  New  York,  in  1664,  the  necessity  for 
the  Established  Church,  or  more  properly  a  church 
of  the  Anglican  Communion  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
in  Schenectady,  began  to  be  felt  for,  with  the  British 
occupation  of  this  Colony,  many  English  families 
came  here  from  the  New  England  Colonies,  and  many 
discharged  soldiers  became  settlers.  There  were  also 
British  garrisons  near,  the  soldiers  of  which  married 
into  Dutch  families  of  the  valley. 
For  many  years  there  were  occasional  English  chaplains 
here,  but  not  even  a  mission  church.  After  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  in  1754,  there  were  few  soldiers  stationed 
near  Schenectady,  and  the  few  settlers,  who  were  Churchmen, 
were  obliged  to  build  a  church  for  themselves.  The  foundations 
were  laid  in  1759,  but  the  building  was  delayed  for  years,  because 
of  the  small  number  of  persons  who  had  to  bear  the  expense.  In 
1765,  fifty-five  persons  in  Schenectady  signed  a  petition  asking 
for  a  mission  to  help  them  to  complete  the  work  which  had  been 
started.  In  1771,  there  were  eighty  adult  church  members  in 
Schenectady  and  this  number  was  somewhat  increased  in  the 
winter  by  the  Indian  traders  who  came  here  for  headquarters,  or 
returned  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  their  homes. 

Samuel  Fuller,  a  Yankee  from  Needham,  Massachusetts,  who 
was  master  of  the  King's  artificers,  came  here  to  have  charge  of 
the  wood  work,  and  he  eventually  became  the  builder  of  the 
church.     As  late  as   1762,  three  years  after  the  laying  of  the 


102  Old  Schenectady. 

foundations,  Fuller  was  obliged  to  return  to  Needham  to  secure 
several  carpenters  as  there  was,  apparently,  no  one  in  this  old 
Dutch  village  who  could  do  the  work.  Besides  their  wages,  these 
men  were  allowed  pay  for  the  fourteen  days  required  in  coming 
here  and  returning  to  their  homes. 

Sir  William  Johnson  was  a  good  friend  of  the  struggling 
parish  and  subscribed  liberally  from  his  private  purse,  and  on  one 
occasion  he  raised  from  his  friends  and  the  Governors  of  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  the  then  very  considerable  sum  of  $357, 
toward  the  building  fund.  It  was  chiefly  through  his  efforts  that 
a  charter  for  the  church  was  obtained  from  the  Governor  of  the 
Colony,  in  1766.  Sir  William  frequently  attended  service  in  St. 
George's  and  tradition  says  that  his  pew,  which  was  on  the  south 
side,  was  covered  by  a  canopy. 

There  are  two  odd  legends  connected  with  the  earliest  days 
of  the  church  which  show,  in  a  striking  manner,  that  inaccuracies 
were  indulged  in  in  those  far  off  days  as  freely  as  they  are  now. 

It  seems  that  the  Presbyterians  having  no  church  of  their 
own  and,  like  the  Episcopalians,  not  enough  money  among  them- 
selves to  build  one,  united  with  the  latter  in  subscribing  money 
for  the  erection  of  St.  George's,  the  understanding  being,  that 
both  denominations  should  worship  in  the  church  on  different 
occasions.  There  were  two  doors  in  those  days,  one  on  the  west 
and  the  other  on  the  south  side  of  the  church.  It  was  agreed  that 
the  Episcopalians  should  use  the  west  door  and  the  Presbyterians 
the  south  door.  John  Brown,  to  whose  memory  there  is  a  tablet 
in  the  wall  of  the  present  church  and  who  was  an  earnest  worker 
for  the  parish,  went  to  New  York  secretly  and  got  the  Bishop 
to  consecrate  the  church  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Presby- 
terians. Of  course  they  were  outraged  that  such  an  act  should 
be  done  when  they  had  subscribed  liberally,  in  proportion  to 
their  means.  But  the  fact  of  the  matter  is,  nothing  of  the  kind 
happened,  for  there  was  no  Episcopal  Bishop  in  the  Colonies  till 
thirty  years  after  the  supposed  consecration,  and  furthermore,  St. 
George's  Church  was  not  consecrated  by  anyone  till  1859,  when 
it  was  done  by  Bishop  Potter. 


St.  George's  Episcopal  Church.  103 

The  other  legend  is  to  the  effect,  that  when  the  south,  or 
Presbyterian  door  was  walled  up,  the  plaster  would  not  stick  and 
the  Presbyterians  accounted  for  this  by  saying:  "It  was  because 
the  Lord  had  put  a  curse  upon  it." 

As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Barclay, 
an  Episcopal  missionary  in  Albany,  was  the  first  minister  to  con- 
duct the  Episcopal  service  in  Schenectady,  but  this  was  in  17 10, 
many  years  before  the  church  was  thought  of. 

In  1748  a  youth  of  twenty-one,  John  W.  Brown,  came  to 
Schenectady  from  London,  and  was  afterward,  to  the  end  of  his 
days  known  as  the  "Father  of  the  Parish"  because  of  his  life- 
long work  for  the  parish,  which  only  ended  with  his  death  at  the 
age  of  eighty-seven.  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  name,  St. 
George,  was  given  to  the  church  by  him.  The  first  baptism 
according  to  the  ritual  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  occurred  in  1754, 
when  Mr.  Brown's  little  daughter  was  baptized,  the  sacrament 
being  administered  by  the  Rev.  John  Ogilvie,  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
in  Albany,  who  came  to  Schenectady  for  such  occasions  and  to 
conduct  the  service,  several  times  a  year. 

The  first  resident  rector  of  St.  George's  Church  was  probably 
William  Andrews,  who  was  a  religious  teacher  to  the  Mohawk 
Indians.  Mr.  Andrews  finally  returned  to  his  home  in  London  so 
that  he  could  be  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  whose  See 
included  this  part  of  the  Colonies,  and  then  he  was  appointed 
rector  of  St.  George's.  This  was  in  1770.  The  Rev.  William 
Andrews  was  a  hard  worker,  not  only  in  parish  work  but  in 
school  work  as  well.  In  177 1  he  established  a  grammar  school. 
This  school  and  the  hard  parish  work  so  broke  Mr.  Andrew's 
health  that  he  was  obliged  to  resign  in  1773,  when  he  went  to 
Virginia.    This  was  the  first  school  of  importance  in  Schenectady. 

Some  idea  of  the  hardihood  of  the  early  settlers  and  of  the 
toil  and  hardships  they  bore,  as  a  matter  of  course,  may  be  had 
when  it  is  known  that  there  was  considerable  difficulty  in  paying 
the  rector's  salary  and  that  the  reason  given  was,  "So  many  of  the 
parishioners  are  Indian  traders  who  go  to  the  Great  Lakes  and 


104 


Old  Schenectady. 


sometimes  do  not  return  for  a  year."  The  journey  by  canoe  with 
long,  tedious  carries  was  more  of  an  undertaking  and  more 
dangerous  than  would  be  a  journey  to-day  to  Lake  Nyanza  in  the 
heart  of  Africa.  These  men  traded  for  furs  with  the  Indians  and 
hunted  and  trapped  as  well.  When  they  had  obtained  as  many 
pelts  as  could  be  brought  back,  they  returned  to  their  homes  and 
the  pelts  were  mostly  disposed  of  to  the  Sanders,  of  New  York, 
Albany  and  Scotia,  who  did  a  business  of  a  million  or  more  yearly. 

When  the  war 
with  the  Mother 
Country  broke 
out  the  Rev.  John 
Doty,  a  graduate 
of  Columbia  Col- 
lege (then  called 
King's  College) 
was  rector  of  St. 
George's  Church. 
This  war  made 
the  position  of  the 
Episcopal  clergy 
most  trying.  They 
were  supported, 
in  part  if  not  en- 
tirely, from  the 
old  country  and 
they  felt  that  an 
ecclesiastical  obli- 
gation made  the  prayers  for  the  King  and  Royal  family  a  moral 
necessity.  This  caused  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  Colonists  who, 
by  the  conditions  were  made  even  more  suspicious  than  they  were 
naturally,  and  so  Mr.  Doty,  with  many  other  rectors,  was  im- 
prisoned for  a  while.  When  he  was  released  he  went  to  Canada, 
and  for  the  remainder  of  the  Revolutionary  War  there  was  no 
service  in  the  church. 


pal  Chur 


57.  George's  Episcopal  Church.  105 

When  peace  was  declared,  the  church  edifice  was  in  a  bad 
condition  and  the  parishioners  were  scattered,  or  had  been  killed 
in  battle.  Then  it  was  that  John  Brown,  "the  father  of  the  parish,*' 
and  Charles  Martin  made  liberal  subscriptions  and  secured  other 
subscriptions  from  Churchmen  for  its  renovation.  About  1790 
the  parish  was  admitted  to  the  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church. 

In  1798,  St.  George's  parish  began  a  new  life  which  was 
more  or  less  prosperous  and  has  continued  so  from  that  year  to 
the  present.  That  same  year  the  Rev.  Robert  G.  Wetmore  became 
joint  rector  of  Christ  Church,  in  Duanesburg  and  of  St.  George's 
in  this  city.  At  this  time  the  church  was  only  fifty-six  by  thirty- 
six  feet  with  three  windows  on  each  side,  the  south  door  of  the 
Presbyterians'  being  walled  up.  There  was  a  small  steeple  of 
wood  in  the  middle  of  the  front  and  the  pulpit,  against  the  east 
wall,  was  reached  by  a  long  flight  of  steps.  Mr.  Wetmore 
resigned  in  1801  and  for  several  years  thereafter  St.  George's 
Church  was  without  a  rector. 

There  were  two  dissenters  who  became  identified  with  the 
Church  in  this  city,  especially  with  St.  George's :  David  Hearsay, 
a  Congregationalist  from  New  England,  and  the  Rev.  Cyrus 
Stebbins,  a  Methodist  minister  of  Albany,  who  was  ordained  by 
Bishop  Moore.  Mr.  Stebbins  was  rector  of  St.  George's  Church 
from  1806  to  1 8 19. 

From  1 82 1  to  1836  the  Rev.  A.  P.  Proal  was  rector  and  it 
was  in  his  rectorship  that  the  most  notable  improvements  were 
made,  up  to  that  time.  The  Wendell  house  was  purchased  for  the 
rectory.  This  property  was  just  north  of  the  church  and  adjoin- 
ing it  and  the  property  is  still  the  site  of  the  rectory.  More  pews 
were  added  and  side  galleries  were  put  up  to  accommodate  the 
growing  congregation.  In  1838,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smede  was 
rector,  the  two  transepts  were  added ;  a  great  pulpit,  way  up  in 
the  air,  was  put  in  with  a  cellar-like  hole  under  it,  into  which 
the  rector  disappeared  when  the  time  came  to  change  from  sur- 
plice to  black   robe,   just  before   the   sermon.      In  our   day  the 


106  Old  Schenectady. 

popping  down  and  then  up  would  be  the  cause  of  considerable 
levity  with  its  suggestiveness  of  a  human  jack-in-the-box,  but 
the  early  settlers  were  so  much  given  to  toil  and  rest,  with  very 
much  more  of  the  toil  than  rest,  that  they  saw  little  of  the  humor- 
ous side  of  life,  or  if  they  saw  it,  they  failed  to  recognize  it.  The 
Peek  house,  immediately  adjoining  the  church  yard  on  the  south, 
was  purchased  at  this  time,  and  was  used  as  a  house  for  the  sex- 
ton and  for  the  Sunday  school.  This  property  is  still  owned  by 
the  Church. 

The  other  rectors  were :  The  Rev.  William  H.  Walter,  from 
1839  to  '42>  trie  Rev.  Dr.  John  Williams,  from  1842  to  '48.  Dr. 
Williams  later  became  the  beloved  Bishop  of  Connecticut ;  and  in 
1848  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Payne  became  its  rector. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

After  the  "Piskerbals,"  as  the  Episcopalians  were  called  in 
old  days  and  are  still  called  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  had 
closed  the  south,  or  Presbyterian  door  of  St.  George's  Church,  the 
Presbyterians  worshiped  in  rented  quarters.  It  was  not  till  1770 
that  a  minister  was  regularly  settled  here,  although  it  is  probable 
that  missionaries  from  Albany  officiated  occasionally.  As  has 
been  mentioned  elsewhere,  they  worshiped  in  St.  George's  Church 
for  some  time. 

It  is  most  unfortunate  for  us  of  to-day,  that  there  is  no  record, 
nor  even  tradition,  where  the  site  of  the  first  church  was.  The 
church,  wherever  it  was,  was  built  by  John  Hall  and  Samuel 
Fuller,  at  an  expense  to  the  congregation,  including  the  lot,  of 
$1,800.  The  frame  was  "raised"  on  June  1  and  2,  1770,  and  the 
building  finished  in  1771.  There  were  forty-three  pews  and  a 
gallery.  The  first  settled  minister  was  the  Rev.  Alexander  Miller, 
who  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  the  class  of  1764,  and  studied 
theology  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rodgers,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Miller 
received  in  1767  his  license  to  preach,  was  ordained  in  1770  and 
was  immediately  settled  over  the  congregation.     He    had    also, 


Presbyterian  Church.  107 

outlying  congregations  at  Currie's — or  Cory's — Bush,  now 
Princeton,  and  at  Remsen's  Bush.  At  this  time,  William  White 
was  deacon  and  James  Schuyler,  James  Wilson,  and  Andrew 
McFarlan  were  elders.  In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Miller,  in  1771,  the 
Rev.  Eliphalet  Ball,  of  Bedford,  New  York,  preached  as  supply. 
Mr.  Ball  became  so  greatly  pleased  with  the  country  about 
Schenectady,  that  he  and  a  portion  of  his  congregation  settled  in 
Ballston,  in  1788,  and  Ballston  was  so  called  in  honor  of  Mr.  Ball. 

The  Rev.  Alexander  Miller  left  Schenectady  in  1781.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  John  Young,  who  was  ordained,  about 
a  year  later,  on  June  14,  1788,  and  included  Currie's  Bush  in  his 
ministerial  duties.  The  church  membership  was  small  and  the 
members  not  burdened  with  money ;  so  when  Mr.  Miller  severed 
his  connection  with  it,  there  was  a  considerable  sum  still  due  him 
on  his  salary. 

In  1790,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Young  requested  that  his  resignation 
be  accepted — the  reason  given,  being  that  his  health  was 
impaired  and  that  his  salary  was  unpaid  for  some  time.  This  was 
on  November  10.  The  congregation  was  somewhat  disrupted 
about  this  time  by  the  contention  of  two  factions  in  the  Church. 
The  evangelical  idea,  which  was  gaining  strength  in  the  Church, 
was  bitterly  opposed  by  those  who  favored  formalism.  This  con- 
tention, taken  together  with  Mr.  Young's  request,  resulted  in  his 
dismissal,  on  December  9,  1790. 

From  1 79 1  to  1795,  the  pulpit  was  supplied,  occasionally,  by 
ten  or  twelve  different  ministers.  When  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Smith 
was  elected  president  of  Union  College,  he  took  a  hand  in  the 
affairs  of  the  struggling  church,  and,  metaphorically,  put  it  on 
its  feet  for  the  time  being.  On  September  13,  1796,  the  Rev. 
Robert  Smith,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  called  to  the  pastorate  and 
was  installed.  Unfortunately  for  the  Church,  Mr.  Smith's  health 
broke  down  and  in  1801,  he  went  to  Savannah  hoping  to  recover 
his  strength ;  but  he  died  not  long  after  his  arrival.  Mr.  Smith 
was  a  worker  and  a  man  who  was  possessed  of  qualities  which 
particularly  fitted  him  for  his  chosen  calling  and  for  the  pastorate 


108  Old  Schenectady. 

of  this  Church.  Under  his  pastorate,  the  membership  was 
increased  from  thirty-seven  to  eighty-eight.  The  annual  income 
of  the  Church  at  this  time  was  $700. 

The  loss  of  Mr.  Smith's  influence  and  wise  management  gave 
occasion  for  the  restless  ones  of  the  congregation  to  again 
indulge  in  that  Scotchman's  delight — "a  wee  bit  daunder."  The 
Rev.  William  Clarkson  was  installed  in  March,  1802,  by  the 
Presbytery,  upon  petition  of  seventy-six  members  of  the  congre- 
gation, which  number  included  three  elders ;  but  this  was  opposed 
by  a  minority  petition,  signed  by  twenty  members,  including  two 
elders.  The  minority  accused  Mr.  Clarkson  of  really  shocking 
crimes — the  most  serious  being  that  "he  read  his  sermons."  It 
mattered  not  to  the  old-time  Presbyterian,  especially  if  he  were 
Scotch,  if  the  minister  wrote  out  and  learned  by  heart,  his  sermon, 
so  long  as  he  spoke  it  without  notes  or  manuscript.  The  reading 
of  a  sermon  was  a  sin  they  could  not  tolerate.  It  seems  that  the 
Presbytery  did  not  agree  with  the  minority,  and  Mr.  Clarkson  was 
retained.  This  resulted  in  the  withdrawal  of  twenty-four  families 
from  the  congregation  and  the  acquisition  of  a  number  of  new 
members.  An  election  of  elders  increased  the  quarrel  and,  finally, 
politics  had  so  far  taken  possession  of  the  congregation  to  the 
exclusion  of  Christianity,  that  Mr.  Clarkson  resigned  in  Septem- 
ber, 1803. 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  the  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Romeyn, 
of  the  old  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Romeyn, 
became  pastor  at  a  salary  of  $625,  but  politics  still  held  posses- 
sion of  the  members  and  he  left  in  November,  1804.  This  strife 
was  not  only  disrupting  the  congregation,  but  was  also  minimiz- 
ing the  finances — the  rent,  received  for  pews,  being  but  $35. 
Nathaniel  Todd  tried  his  luck,  in  December,  1805,  and  was  dis- 
missed, by  the  Presbytery,  in  November  of  the  same  year,  because 
the  Church  could  not  support  a  minister. 

An  Irishman  named  John  Joyce,  who  was  a  lay  preacher  in 
the  Methodist  faith,  so  pleased  the  congregation,  or,  at  least,  a 
considerable  portion  of  it,  that  the  Presbytery  was  asked  to  appoint 


Presbyterian  Church.  109 

him  minister.  It  refused  and  requested  the  resignation  of  the 
session  and  the  election  of  a  new  one,  in  the  hope  of  bettering  the 
conditions.  In  1809,  the  foundations  for  a  new  church  were  laid, 
which  would  make  it  appear  that,  while  there  was  money  for  a 
church,  there  was  none  for  a  minister.  While  the  new  church 
was  being  built — on  the  site  of  the  chapel  which  had  been  taken 
down — the  congregation,  seemingly,  continued  the  strife  on  week- 
days and  worshiped  in  the  College  Chapel  on  Sundays.  Dr.  Eli- 
phalet  Nott  had  been  president  of  Union  College  for  five  years  at 
this  time,  and  he  did  much  to  smooth  matters  for  the  disrupted 
congregation.  It  is  probable  that  the  somewhat  odd  arrangement 
of  the  gallery  of  this  new  church  was  a  sort  of  acknowledgement 
of  that  fact.  This  gallery  was  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  and, 
at  the  ends,  above  and  near  the  pulpit-platform,  were  inclines, 
down  which  the  students  of  the  graduating-class  walked  to 
receive  their  diplomas  from  the  hands  of  the  president,  when  they 
ascended  to  the  gallery  on  the  other  side,  up  the  other  incline. 
This  proceeding  must  have  been  a  source  of  delight  to  the  "kid" 
portion  of  the  audience  at  Commencement,  if  any  of  them  were 
admitted  in  those  days,  on  account  of  its  circus-like  appearance. 

For  the  succeeding  six  years,  there  was  an  absence  of  strife. 
In  this  period,  the  Rev.  Alexander  Montieth  was  minister.  His 
pastorate  began  on  August  29,  1809,  and  continued  till  his  death, 
on  January  29,  181 5.  His  salary  was  raised  from  $700  to  $1,000, 
and  sixty-two  new  communicants  were  added. 

The  next  minister  was  the  Rev.  Hooper  Cummings,  "whose 
eloquence,"  to  quote  a  previous  writer,  "covered  not  a  few  of  his 
own  sins  and  other  mens'  sermons."  In  his  brief  pastorate,  lasting 
from  November,  1815,  to  February,  1817,  sixty-five  communicants 
were  added.  For  three  years,  the  Church  was  without  a  minister 
and  a  few  persons  withdrew  from  membership.  The  preaching 
was  done  by  President  Nott  and  Dr.  McAuley  of  the  College, 
while  the  Church  was  without  a  settled  minister. 

From  1820  to  1826  the  Rev.  Walter  Montieth  was  minister. 
It  was  in  his  pastorate  that  a  curious  old  custom,  founded  upon 


no  Old  Schenectady. 

"holier-then-thou"  bigotry,  was  discontinued.  This  was  the 
communion  "token."  It  was  made  of  pewter  or  lead,  about  an 
inch  square,  inscribed,  on  one  side,  with  the  name  of  the  church 
and  on  the  other,  with  the  numerals  of  texts.  Without  one  of 
these  "tokens"  no  repentant  sinner,  who  wished  to  confess  his 
sins  and  obtain  spiritual  strength  for  a  more  determined  fight 
against  sin,  could  partake  of  the  sacrament.  In  March,  1821,  the 
very  straight  and  painfully  narrow  path,  only  wide  enough  for  a 
Presbyterian,  was  widened  so  that  Christians  could  walk,  side 
by  side,  to  the  communion  table. 

Another  broadening  of  constricted  ideas  took  place  at  this 
time  in  the  building — the  Session  House.  There  was,  however, 
strong  opposition  by  such  members  of  the  congregation  as  were 
still  struggling  singly  up  the  narrow  path  to  Paradise ;  for  they 
regarded  Sunday  schools  as  something  to  be  shunned  and  prayer- 
meetings,  with  suspicion.  In  the  twentieth  century  it  hardly 
seems  credible  that,  less  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  there  were 
Presbyterians  built  upon  such  slender  lines. 

From  1826  to  1832,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Erskine  and  William  Jones 
were  the  minister  and  "stated  supply,"  respectively.  On  Decem- 
ber 6,  1832  the  Church  began  a  new  life ;  a  life  so  broad  and 
benevolent,  that  the  old-time  strife  was  impossible  to  longer  con- 
tinue ;  for  it  was  on  that  date  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jonathan  Trum- 
bull Backus  was  ordained  and  installed  the  church's  minister.  He 
continued,  as  such,  till  1873.  During  these  forty-one  years  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  wealth  of  the  Church  constantly  grew  and 
it  has  continued  to  do  so  to  the  present  time.  While  Dr.  Backus 
was  minister,  one  thousand  communicants  were  added  and 
$160,000  were  distributed.  In  1834,  the  church  building  was 
enlarged;  in  1843,  the  chapel  was  built;  in  1857,  the  session-room 
was  added ;  and,  in  1859,  the  church  building  was  again  enlarged. 
Dr.  Backus  was  succeeded,  in  1873,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  G. 
Darling. 


Methodist  Church.  i 1 1 


METHODIST  CHURCH. 


The  origin  of  the  Methodist  Church,  in  Schenectady,  was 
in  1767,  when  Captain  Thomas  Webb  went  to  Schenectady  from 
Albany.  This  Captain  Webb  was  an  officer  in  the  British  Army, 
who  had  been  licensed  to  preach  by  John  Wesley,  as  a  local 
preacher.  He  arrived  in  New  York  on  orders  from  his  superiors 
and  was  assigned  to  military  duty  in  Albany.  As  nearly  as  can 
be  ascertained,  he  was  the  first  person,  of  the  Methodist  faith,  to 
visit  Schenectady. 

With  the  religious  energy  of  his  faith,  be  began  to  preach 
and  to  teach  the  scriptures,  in  a  building  used  for  making  flour, 
on  the  east  side  of  Church  street,  not  far  from  Union  street,  and 
also,  in  the  home  of  Giles  Van  Vorst,  on  Union  street.  The 
people  were  as  curious,  in  those  days,  as  they  are  now,  when  any- 
thing unusual  is  to  be  seen  or  heard,  especially  in  religious 
matters,  and  it,  surely,  was  an  unusual  sight  to  see  a  British  officer, 
preaching  in  uniform,  wearing  his  side-arms,  or  his  sword,  lying 
on  the  table  in  front  of  him.  As  the  late  Judge  John  Sanders 
expressed  it,  with  great  force  and  elegance :  "The  people  went  to 
hear  him,  out  of  curiosity ;  but  were  not  unfrequently  wounded 
by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  he  wielded  with  great  power." 
Among  the  persons  who  were  first  attracted,  then  convicted  of 
sin,  and,  finally,  converted  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  were  Giles  Brower,  Nicholas  Van  Patten,  Rachel  Bar- 
hydt  and  Mrs.  Giles  Van  Vorst,  in  whose  home  he  preached. 

Three  years  after  the  advent  of  Captain  Thomas  Webb,  in 
1770,  the  great  George  Whitfield — great,  out  of  Methodism,  as 
well  as  in  it — preached  in  Schenectady,  as  the  second  pastor  of 
the  small  but  growing  Church.  This  was  on  the  occasion  of  his 
last  tour  of  America,  and  the  people  crowded  the  place  of  worship, 
without  regard  to  denomination  or  creed.  Benjamin  Akin,  a 
local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  Church,  a  resident  of  Schenectady, 
was  asked  by  some  persons,  who  had  heard  him,  to  preach  to 
them.     In  January,  1807,  he  began  his  preaching  in  the  home  of 


H2  Old  Schenectady. 

Richard  Clute,  on  Green  street.  His  manner  was  so  earnest  and 
convincing,  that,  in  the  first  year,  the  fourteen  or  fifteen  persons 
became  converted  to  Methodism. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  McKean,  pastor  in  charge  of  the  Albany 
circuit,  went  to  Schenectady  and  organized  the  Methodists  into 
a  society  and  established  the  first  Methodist  Church  in  Schenec- 
tady, in  April,  1807.  At  the  conference  of  May  2,  of  that  same 
year,  the  Schenectady  circuit  was  organized  and  Samuel  Howe 
was  appointed  the  preacher.  This  circuit  included,  besides  the 
city,  portions  of  the  neighboring  country.  Mr.  Howe  preached 
in  Schenectady  once  in  four  weeks,  in  the  home  of  Richard  Clute, 
at  first,  and  later,  in  a  house  on  Liberty  street. 

Mr.  Howe  was  succeeded  by  Seth  Crowell  in  the  spring  of 
1808.  Service  was  held  in  a  building,  owned  by  Dorsey  Joyce 
and  let,  by  him,  for  that  purpose.  In  1809,  a  rough  building  was 
put  up  on  the  corner  of  Liberty  and  Canal  streets  (where  the 
canal  crosses  Liberty  street)  without  walls  or  anything  more 
nearly  resembling  pews  than  boards  resting  upon  blocks  of  wood. 
The  structure  was,  several  years  later,  finished  and  made  into  a 
creditable  church.  This  church  was  used  till  1835,  when  the 
property  upon  which  it  stood  was  taken  for  the  Erie  canal.  The 
building  was  moved  over  to  Union  street,  upon  which  it  fronted ; 
but  again  progress,  this  time  represented  by  the  Saratoga  Rail- 
road, needed  the  property  upon  which  the  church  stood.  At  this 
time,  the  Rev.  James  B.  Houghtaling  was  the  pastor  and  the 
membership  was  one  hundred  and  ninety-five.  The  lot  and  old 
building  were  sold  and  a  better  church-building  was  erected  on 
Liberty  street.  It  was  dedicated  in  1836,  while  the  Rev.  Truman 
Seymour  was  pastor. 

The  Methodist  was  the  fourth  of  the  old  Schenectady  churches. 

BAPTIST  CHURCH. 
The  First  Baptist  Church,  which    is  fast    approaching    its 
centennial,  was  founded  in  1822  and  is  the  fifth  church  in  age  in 
Schenectady.      It  membership  at   the   time   numbered   thirty-six 


Baptist  Church.  i  1 3 

persons,  many  of  them  being  former  members  of  the  old  Clifton 
Park  Church,  whose  elder,  Abijah  Peck,  was  the  prime  mover  in 
the  founding  of  the  First  Church  of  Schenectady. 

A  few  months  later,  in  1823,  the  pastor  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  Princeton,  the  Rev.  N.  W.  Whiting,  was  con- 
vinced that  immersion  was  the  only  proper  way  to  baptize,  so  he 
gave  up  his  ministerial  duties  in  the  Dutch  Church  and  joined 
the  Baptists.  He  was  baptized  according  to  the  faith  and  was 
ordained  as  the  first  pastor.  Later  in  the  year,  the  Shaftsbury 
Baptist  Association,  numbering  forty-five  members,  joined  the 
First  Church. 

The  second  pastor  was  the  Rev.  John  Cooper,  from  1825  to 
1827,  then  there  was  a  break  of  three  years  in  which  the  Church 
was  without  a  pastor.  This  congregation  had  a  hard  contest  with 
financial  adversity,  not  as  individuals  nor  collectively,  but  as  a 
church  organization.  The  membership  numbered  but  eighty-one 
and  that  they  held  together  and  kept  the  organization  alive  at 
this  time  and  later,  through  an  even  more  distressing  period, 
shows  the  courageous  spirit  of  the  members  most  strikingly.  In 
1830  the  Rev.  Richmond  Taggart  was  pastor  and  in  1833 
he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Abram  D.  Gillette.  In  the 
three  years  of  his  pastorate  the  Church  was  greatly  strengthened 
in  numbers  and  financially,  one  hundred  persons  being  baptized 
by  him.  In  1834  the  Church  was  without  a  pastor  and  in  1835 
the  Rev.  J.  M.  Graves  officiated. 

In  1837,  in  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Philander  G.  Gillette, 
forty-two  persons  were  baptized  and  the  first  church  building  was 
erected.  Mr.  Gillette  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Gowant  Sawyer, 
who  officiated  in  1839  and  40.  His  brief  pastorate  was  a  success- 
ful one,  for  the  membership  was  increased  to  three  hundred.  In 
1840  an  important  event  took  place  by  the  withdrawal  of  twenty- 
eight  members  who  organized  the  Scotia  Baptist  Church.  From 
1842  to  '45  ninety-three  persons  joined  the  Church  under  the 
pastorate  of  the  Rev.  Laroy  Church.  In  i845-'46,  the  pastor 
was  the  Rev.  William  Arthur.      In    1847    began    a    decade    of 


1 14  Old  Schenectady. 

adversity  and  depression  which  might  have  ended  disastrously 
had  another  than  the  late  Rev.  Horace  G.  Day  been  at  the  head  of 
the  affairs  spiritual  and  temporal. 

Horace  G.  Day;  the  man  of  small  stature  and  great  courage 
(which  was  displayed  when  he  spoke  fearlessly  and  with 
vehemence  against  the  curse  of  slavery,  on  the  street  corners  and 
in  halls,  time  after  time,  regardless  that  his  life  had  been 
threatened  and  that  he  had  been  forced  to  flee  for  his  life  from 
the  stones  thrown  by  those  who  disapproved)  the  man  of  small 
stature  and  great  spirit,  so  broad  that  it  opened  his  great  heart 
to  all  variations  of  Christians,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  and  to 
the  Hebrews,  and  won  the  respect  and  affection  of  Protestant, 
Catholic  and  Jew.  so  that  in  his  old  age  members  of  the  three 
great  religious  bodies  considered  it  a  privilege  to  open  their 
purses  to  keep  him  from  the  poverty  which  he  deliberately  brought 
upon  himself  by  giving  away  all  that  he  possessed  to  the  poor. 

Mr.  Day  was  born  in  Hudson,  New  York,  on  September  13, 
1819.  His  family,  however,  originated  in  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
After  his  early  school  days  were  over,  his  first  employment  was  as 
a  drug  clerk,  but  his  love  of  books  and  of  mental  cultivation 
caused  him  to  continue  his  education  in  the  Hudson  Academy 
from  which  he  was  graduated  as  valedictorian  of  his  class.  His 
first  experience  as  a  preacher  was  in  [846  in  the  Ballston  Baptist 
Church,  during  the  absence  of  its  elder,  Norman  Fox.  During 
and  immediately  after  his  student  days,  his  eloquence  as  a  public 
speaker  was  well  known  in  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  valleys  and 
his  preaching  at  Ballston  added  to  his  fame.  In  1847  ne  was 
called  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Schenectady  and  continued 
in  that  capacity  for  fifty  years,  his  retirement  from  the  pastorate 
taking  place  in  1897.  Thus,  his  first  was  his  only  pastorate.  Mr. 
Day,  in  his  eighty-sixth  year,  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
late  "Oom"  Paul  Kruger,  a  resemblance  which  he  himself,  recog- 
nized. During  his  fifty  years  as  pastor  of  one  church,  he  preached 
7,800  sermons,  united  652  couples  in  marriage,  baptized  625  per- 
sons and  officiated  at  765  funerals. 


Baptist  Church.  i  15 

Mr.  Day,  although  very  feeble  physically  up,  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  October,  1904,  as  the  result  of  his  half  century  of 
hard  work,  was  contented  and  happy.  The  only  blot  upon  the 
fair  reputation  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  is  the  fact,  that  instead 
of  paying  Mr.  Day  a  small  salary  as  pastor  emeritus,  sufficient  for 
his  simple  needs,  he  had  been  supported  for  several  years  by 
public  subscriptions.  Perhaps  the  most  touching  thing  in  con- 
nection with  Mr.  Day,  as  showing  the  depth  of  the  feeling  and 
admiration  for  him,  is  the  fact,  that  on  every  occasion  when  the 
press  of  Schenectady  announced  that  a  collection  would  be  taken 
up  for  him,  among  the  largest  and  earliest  contributions  were 
those  from  gamblers  and  saloon  keepers  of  Schenectady. 


Eighteenth  Century  Chair  in  the 
U'atkins'  Family. 


Chapter  VII. 
Free  Masonry. 


ST.  GEORGE'S  LODGE. 

T  MAY  not  be  denied  that,  while  there  are  many 
Masonic  Lodges  in  the  State  of  New  York,  which 
are  the  peers  of  St.  George's  No.  6,  F.  and  A.  M., 
of  Schenectady,  there  are  very  few  which  can  boast 
of  greater  age  and  not  one  is  more  honored  by  the 
Fraternity  at  large,  and  it  would  seem  from  studying 
its  past  ami  present  that  it  inherited  from  the  man 
who  was  the  chief  worker  for  its  organization  much 
of  his  loyalty  and  patriotism. 
Colonel  Christopher  Yates,  the  founder  of  St.  George's 
Lodge  No.  6  F.  and  A.  M.,  was  great  grandson  of  Joseph  Yates, 
of  Albany,  the  first  American  ancestor  of  the  Yates  family.  He 
was  a  captain  in  the  British-Colonial  army  under  Sir  William 
Johnson  and  a  colonel  in  Washington's  army  in  the  Revolution. 
He  was  one  of  the  liberally  educated  men  of  his  day  and  was 
regarded  as  a  patriot  of  the  highest  order.  He  was  born  in  1737; 
was  married  to  Janet je  Bradt,  daughter  of  Andries  Bradt,  in 
1761  and  died  in  1785,  honored  and  respected  by  all  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact. 

Colonel  Yates  was  a  civil  engineer  and  his  regiment,  called 
"fatigue  men,"  were  the  engineers  who  made  the  ways  and  built 
the  bridges  and  fortifications  for  the  army.  It  was  this  man, 
with  his  high  ideas  of  citizenship  and  his  splendid  patriotism, 
who  was  the  prime  mover  in  the  organization  of  St.  George's 
Lodge. 

Application  was  made  to  that  hot-headed  Tory,  Sir  John 
Johnson,  the  Provincial  Grand  Master,  and  the  son  of  old   Sir 


1 1 8  Old  Schenectady. 

William  Johnson.  The  dispensation  was  granted  on  June  21, 
1774.  This  having  expired,  another  was  granted  that  same  year, 
hut  in  the  mean  time  the  charter  had  arrived  from  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  England.  This  charter  was  dated  September  14,  1774, 
and  it  was  on  that  date  that  St.  George's  Lodge  came  into 
existence.  This  charter  was  numbered  one  and  it  was  the  number 
of  the  Lodge  up  to  1800,  when  the  number  was  changed  to  seven. 
In  1819  it  was  changed  to  eight  and  in  1839  it  was  again  changed, 
this  time  to  six,  the  present  numeral. 

The  seven  original  members  were :  Christopher  Yates, 
master;  Benjamin  Hilton,  Jr.,  senior  warden;  John  Hughan, 
junior  warden;  Cornelius  Van  Dyke,  Aaron  Van  Patten,  Robert 
Clench,  and  Robert  Alexander.  The  first  candidate  for  initiation 
was  Teunis  Swart. 

In  the  following  two  years  the  membership  must  have 
increased  rapidly,  for  the  minutes  show  that  there  were  in  1776 
thirty-eight  members  of  the  Lodge  in  the  Continental  army  fight- 
ing for  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies.  A  notable  fact  in  con- 
nection with  St.  George's  is,  that,  while  nearly  all  of  the  rural 
Lodges  of  the  Colony  failed  to  meet  while  the  war  was  in  progress, 
there  was  no  interruption  in  the  meetings  of  St.  George's.  On 
the  contrary,  there  was  great  activity  in  it,  for  many  of  the  Conti- 
nental soldiers  in  and  about  Schenectady  were  Masons  and 
attended  the  meetings,  and  many  of  the  officers  of  the  Patriots' 
army  who  made  honorable  records  for  themselves,  were  made 
Masons  in  St.  George's  Lodge. 

That  the  principles  of  the  order  were  rigidly  observed — not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  the  war  made  money  scarce  and  the 
times  hard — is  shown  by  two  entries  in  the  minutes  of  money 
given  to  the  families  of  Walter  Vrooman  and  Andrew  Rynex, 
who  had  been  captured  and  imprisoned  by  the  British. 

The  meeting  places  of  the  lodge  were  for  many  years  in  the 
homes  of  brother  Masons.  The  first  was  Clenche's  Tavern, 
where  the  brothers  met  till  December  20,  1777,  when  they  met  in 


St.  George's  Lodge.  119 

the  home  of  Aaron  Truax  and  they  continued  to  meet  there  till 
1784,  when  the  place  was  changed  to  "the  home  of  the  widow 
Clenche"  and  then  in  the  home  of  John  A.  Bradt. 

In  1790  the  membership  had  increased  so  greatly  and  the  war 
being  over,  the  financial  condition  was  easier,  so  it  was  decided 
that  the  time  had  arrived  when  the  Lodge  could  own  its  own 
home.  With  this  end  in  view,  the  house  belonging  to  Dr.  Van 
de  Volgen  was  purchased.  This  house  stood  on  the  south  side  of 
State  street  where  the  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  Railroad  are  now,  next  to  the  coiner  opposite  the  Edison 
Hotel.  The  upper  story  of  this  house  was  fitted  up  for  lodge 
rooms  and  the  first  floor  was  assigned  to  the  tiler,  Andrew  Rynex, 
as  his  residence.  And  still  the  lodge  increased  in  membership, 
for  in  1797  it  became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  building,  and  the 
Mark  Lodge,  which  was  instituted  that  year,  met  in  it.  In  1799 
there  were  120  members  in  good  standing.  This  Van  der  Volgen 
property  was  owned  and  occupied  by  the  Lodge  till  1835  when 
the  property  was  taken  by  the  Schenectady  and  LItica  Railroad 
on  a  long-term  lease.  This  lease,  which  was  inherited  by  the 
New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  expired  in  recent 
vears,  but  the  Lodge  was  unable  to  secure  remuneration  from  that 
company. 

St.  George's  next  home  was  the  Lyceum  Building,  on  Yates 
street,  which  they  purchased  shares  in  to  the  value  of  $650  and  the 
right  to  educate  four  children  of  Masons  in  the  Lyceum  annually, 
free  of  tuition.  The  Lodge  held  its  meeting  on  one  floor  of  the 
building  and  the  school  sessions  were  held  on  the  other.  This 
building  is  now  standing.  It  is  the  hexagonal  structure  which  is 
occupied  by  one  of  the  Greek  Letter  Fraternities  of  Union  College. 

The  meetings  were  held  in  the  Lyceum  Building  for  twenty- 
one  years.  On  January  2$,  1856,  they  sold  their  shares  in  the 
Lyceum  and  rented  the  second  floor  of  the  Van  Home  Building 
on  State  street,  now  known  as  Van  Home  Hall.  This  building 
was  built  by  the  man  for  whom  it  was  named.  He  was  a  mayor  of 
the  city  and  a  master  of  the  Lodge.   Again  a  desire  for  a  home  of 


no  Old  Schenectady. 

its  own  was  felt  and,  as  the  means  for  indulging  that  desire  were 
available,  the  Lodge  purchased  the  lot  and  erected  the  handsome 
temple  on  Church  street  where  it  has  met  ever  since.  This  build- 
ing, which  is  used  for  no  other  than  Masonic  purposes,  is  one  of 
the  finest  and  most  dignified  in  its  external  and  interior  appearance 
of  any  lodge,  in  a  city  the  size  of  Schenectady,  in  the  State.  A 
large  sum  was  spent  upon  the  decorations  and  furnishings  in 
1896. 

It  is  a  signficant  fact,  in  connection  with  St.  George's — 
significant  in  that  it  shows  the  prominence  of  the  members  of  the 
Lodge  throughout  its  long  life  of  130  years — that  every  mayor 
but  one  of  Schenectady  was  a  member  of  the  Lodge  and  that  nine 
of  them  had  been  its  masters.  They  were :  Mayor  Joseph  C. 
Yates,  who  was  master,  1791  to  '96;  Mayor  Henry  Yates,  Jr.,  who 
was  master  in  1803 ;  Mayor  Isaac  M.  Schermerhorn,  who  was 
master  from  1828  to  '43;  Mayor  James  E.  Van  Home,  who  was 
master  in  1853;  Mayor  Abraham  A.  Van  Vorst,  who  was  master 
in  i855~'56;  Mayor  William  J.  Van  Home,  who  was  master  in 
1871;  Mayor  T.  Low  Barhydt,  who  was  master  in  i884-'85; 
Mayor  John  H.  White,  who  was  master  in  i886-'87;  Mayor 
William  Howes  Smith,  who  was  master  in  1896-97;  and  Mayor 
Horace  S.  Van  Voast,  who  was  master  in  1901. 

Joseph  C.  Yates  was  Senator  from  1806  to  1808  when  he 
resigned  to  accept  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  State.     In  1822  he  was  Governor  of  New  York. 

Henry  Yates,  Jr.,  was  Senator  from  1810  to  1814  and  from 
1 818  to  1822.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appointment 
from  1 81 2  to  18 18.  He  was  also  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1822,  when  the  second  constitution  of  the  State 
was  adopted. 


Chapter  VIII. 
/Vn  Historical  Bridge. 


THE  OLD  BRIDGE. 

HEN  new  communities,  which  had  not  yet  finished  the 
~\V7"  struggle  to  conquer  Nature,  began  to  build  bridges,  to 
connect  themselves  with  other  struggling  communities, 
a  degree  of  progress  was  shown,  which  was  far  ahead 
of  that  shown  by  the  same  communities,  generations 
later,  when  they  began  to  connect  themselves  with 
more  distant  parts,  by  means  of  railroads.  For  bridge- 
building  is  at  the  top  of  the  mechanic  arts  and  the 
skill  and  accuracy  of  the  designing  engineer  must  be 
greater  than  in  any  other  kind  of  construction. 

So,  in  1808,  when  the  tiny  city  of  Schenectady  and  the  tinier 
hamlet  of  Scotia,  together  with  the  people  of  the  Township  of 
Glenville,  decided  to  cross  the  eight  hundred  feet  of  the  Mohawk 
river  with  a  bridge,  they  exhibited  a  degree  of  progress  which 
was  most  commendable.  For  years,  the  means  of  communication 
between  the  north  and  south  banks  of  the  Mohawk  had  been  the 
canoes  of  the  Indians.  Later,  after  the  White  Man  began  to 
make  the  soil  produce  articles  of  trade,  too  cumbersome  for  the 
light  and  graceful  birchbark  or  the  more  clumsy  dug-out,  his 
necessity  produced  the  flat-boat  and  the  batteau — the  latter,  being 
adopted  from  the  French  of  Canada.  A  little  later  still,  when 
the  cable-ferry  began  to  cross  the  Mohawk,  from  the  foot  of  Ferry 
street  to  the  opposite  bank,  on  the  Glenville  side,  there  seemed  to 
be  nothing  further  needed.  If  a  farmer  with  a  load  of  produce,  or 
an  Indian  trader,  with  a  load  of  pelts  wished  to  cross  from  the 
north  to  the  south  bank,  on  his  way  to  Schenectady,  and  Albany, 
all  that  he  had  to  do  was  to  drive  or  walk  upon  the  flat-boat  and 


The  Old  Bridge.  123 

pull  himself  and  his  wagon  and  horses  across,  by  means  of  the 
cable,  which  was  attached  to  both  hanks  and  ran  over  a  pulley  on 
the  flat-boat. 

Toward  the  end  of  seventeen  hundred,  the  necessity  for 
better  and  quicker  communication,  which  would  not  be  affected  by 
a  flooded  condition  of  the  river,  began  to  be  felt ;  and  so,  a  bridge 
was  discussed. 

The  Mohawk  Turnpike  and  Bridge  Company  was  incorpor- 
ated on  April  4,  1800,  by  the  following  men:  Benjamin  Walker, 
Peter  Smith,  Gaylord  Griswold,  William  Alexander,  Charles 
Nukirk,  John  Beardsley,  Jacob  C.  Cuyler,  Abraham  Outhout, 
James  Murdoch,  Alexander  Alexander  and  John  C.  Cuyler. 

The  articles  of  incorporation  stated  the  purpose  to  be:  "the 
erection  of  a  bridge  across  the  Mohawk,  opposite  the  compact 
part  of  the  City  of  Schenectady  and  for  making  a  good  road  to 
pass  near  the  house  of  William  Kline,  in  Amsterdam ;  thence,  to 
Palatine  bridge ;  thence,  through  the  village  at  the  little-falls  to 
the  Court  House  of  the  County  of  Herkimer  ;  thence,  to  the  village 
of  Utica." 

The  legislators  of  1800  were,  evidently,  not  experts  in  the 
gentle  art  of  "graft,"  "rake-offs"  and  "commissions,"  nor  is  it 
probable  that  they  found,  in  their  overcoat-pockets,  blank 
envelopes,  containing  one  or  more  bills  of  large  denomination  ;  for 
a  provision  was  incorporated,  that  the  company  might  not  acquire 
more  than  $10,000  worth  of  property;  nor  could  it  purchase 
property  for  any  other  purpose — thus  eliminating  the  possibility 
of  speculation. 

The  first  attempt  was  a  bold  one  and  it  would  be  considered 
such,  to-day ;  for  it  was  to  build  a  suspension-bridge  of  wood, 
with  only  two  spans  across  the  800  feet  of  water.  With  tins 
idea,  the  work  was  begun  by  the  construction  of  two  massive 
abutments  and  an  equally  massive  pier.  This  pier  is  in  the  middle 
of  the  river,  and  is  the  largest  of  those  on  which  the  present 
bridge  rests.  The  work  was  begun  in  the  autumn  by  The 
Mohawk  Bridge  Company  in   1808  and  by  the  time  the  ice  was 


124  Old  Schenectady. 

strong  on  the  river,  the  work  of  setting  the  wooden  cables  in 
place  was  started,  and  the  scaffolding,  to  support  the  immense 
strings  of  tightly-bolted-together  planks  and  timbers,  was  built 
upon  the  ice.  The  work  was  progressing  well  and  the  usual 
crowd,  which  was  attracted  by  the  building-operations,  collected 
whenever  work  permitted,  to  watch  the  greatest  undertaking  yet 
attempted  in  this  part  of  the  young  State.  In  those  days,  the 
Mohawk  was  much  more  to  be  depended  upon  than  it  can  be  now. 
The  ice  formed  and  broke  up  and  the  floods  came  and  went,  at 
times  which  were  more  nearly  fixed.  This  was,  probably,  due  to 
the  fact  that  Nature  had  not  been  deranged  by  the  destruction  of 
the  forests.  They  had  the  effect  of  holding  back  the  rains  and 
melting  the  snows,  and  of  allowing  them  to  gradually  run  away 
to  the  sea,  by  the  way  of  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson.  But  the 
winter  of  1809  was  an  exception.  The  river  rose  rapidly,  in 
the  January  thaw,  and  the  ice  went  out,  taking  the  work  of 
months  and  the  hope  and  money  of  the  workers  with  it. 

When  the  people  had  recovered  from  their  disappointment, 
they  began,  again,  to  plan ;  and,  this  time,  they  concluded  to 
increase  the  number  of  spans  to  four,  by  building  two  other  piers 
between  the  one  in  the  middle  and  the  abutments.  These  piers 
are  the  two  other  large  ones  to  be. seen  to-day,  which,  with  their 
older  fellow,  are  solid  as  they  were  then. 

Tnis  four-span  wooden  suspension-bridge  was  massive.  It 
was  made  of  plank,  4  by  12  inches  and  from  12  to  14  feet  long, 
bolted  together,  forming  an  immense,  flexible  cable  of  wood,  12 
inches  thick,  3  feet  wide  and  the  full  length  of  the  river,  with 
the  addition  of  the  extra  length  required  for  the  loops,  making 
the  total  length  of  the  cables  probably  1,100  feet.  These  cables 
were  braced  by  many  timbers  from  the  abutments  and  piers, 
weie  supported  by  great  upright  beams  and,  of  course,  the  whole 
thing  was  anchored  at  the  ends.  This  was  practically  the  bridge; 
for  the  driveway  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  cables,  any  more 
than  to  be  suspended  from  them.  That  is  to  say,  flood  and  ice 
might  carry  away  the  driveway  and  not  harm  the  super-structure. 


7lic  Old  Bridge.  125 

This  plan  showed  the  skill  of  the  man  who  designed  and 
built  the  bridge.  It  was  accomplished  by  hanging  the  driveway 
from  the  wooden  cables  by  square,  wrought-iron  rods,  which 
passed  up  through  the  cables  and  down  through  the  floor-timbers. 
Instead  of  fastening  these  rods,  rigidly,  holes  were  made  through 
the  ends,  and  pieees  of  iron,  called  keys,  were  passed  through 
these  holes,  resting  on  immense  washers.  The  floor  timbers  were 
supported  in  the  same  manner — only,  in  this  instance,  the  keys 
were  below  the  timbers. 

The  result  proved  to  be  even  more  than  was  hoped  for ; 
for  the  flexible  driveway  was,  often,  pounded  and  battered  by 
floating  ice  and  debris ;  and  the  very  flexibility  of  it  saved  it  from 
destruction.  On  the  rare  occasions  when  portions  were  destroyed 
or  damaged,  the  work  of  repair  was  easy  ;  for  all  that  was  neces- 
sary was  to  remove  the  keys  whereupon  the  damaged  part  could 
be  slipped  out  and  new  parts  put  in  place. 

Probablv,  the  greatest  strain  put  on  the  bridge  was  one 
spring,  many  years  ago,  when  the  high  water  brought  down  a 
large  canal-boat.  Its  nose  struck  the  suspended  floor  a  terrific 
blow.  It  hung,  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then,  when  the  force  of 
the  water  became  irrisistible,  the  boat  turned  end-over-end,  and 
went  rushing  down  to  destruction,  on  the  rocks  along  the 
Niskayuna  shore. 

For  many  years,  the  only  covering  on  the  bridge  was  where 
the  great  loops  of  the  cables  passed  over  the  upright  timbers  on 
the  abutments  and  on  the  piers.  The  drop  of  the  cables  was 
shingled,  to  protect  the  cables  from  the  weather. 

As  time  went  on,  the  joints  of  the  bridge — unlike  those  of  an 
old  man,  which  shrink  and  become  stiff — began  to  stretch  and 
draw  out.  This  caused  the  bridge  to  sink  between  the  piers ;  and. 
when  the  sinking  had  reached  a  point,  too  low  for  safety,  other 
piers  were  built  under  it.  Instead  of  building  them  just  high 
enough  to  meet  the  sunken  portion,  they  were  several  feet  higher, 
thus  raising  that  portion  and  giving,  in  time,  that  odd  up-and- 
down,  wave-like  appearance  to  the  driveway,  shown  in  the  picture. 


I  26 


Old  Schenectady. 


Bridge   Connecting  Schenectady  and   Scotia,   1809  to   1873. 


Finally,  the  company  decided  to  cover  the  entire  structure ;  and, 
as  the  covering  between  the  piers  was  no  higher  than  was 
absolutely  necessary,  that  patched-up  appearance  of  several  barns 
of  different  sizes  joined  together,  was  given.  This  system  of 
covering  was  to  save  material  and  work ;  for,  had  the  entire 
bridge  been  covered  to  the  same  height,  the  expense  would  have 
been  greatly  increased. 

In  1814,  an  attempt  was  made  by  interested  parties  to  obtain 
the  passage  of  a  bill,  through  the  Legislature,  which  would  have 
the  effect  of  increasing  tolls  ;  but  this  bill  was  bitterly  opposed  by 
the  people  and  was  finally  defeated.  Another  bill  was  passed,  or 
the  original  one  was  so  amended,  that  the  rights,  asked  for,  in 
regard  to  straightening  the  turnpike  and  altering  its  direction 
somewhat,  were  included,  with  the  toll-increasing  portion 
eliminated. 

By  the  time  1815  arrived,  the  young  country  was  taking  on 
some  airs,  on  account  of  the  success  in  the  "War  of  1812,"  and 
(.11  account  of  its  prosperity.  The  individuals  and  families,  who 
had  made  fortunes  out  of  the  Revolution  and  were  making  them 


The  Old  Bridge.  127 

out  of  the  war  then  being  fought ;  and  those  who  had  accumu- 
lated money,  in  more  legitimate  ways,  were  beginning  to  feel  the 
effects  of  wealth.  So,  in  this  year,  a  bill  became  a  law,  which 
was  entitled :  "An  Act  to  increase  the  Rates  of  Toll  for  crossing 
the  Mohawk  Bridge,  at  the  city  of  Schenectady,  and  for  other 
purposes." 

The  increase  of  tolls,  in  this  bill,  was  aimed  at  these  persons 
who  were  beginning  to  feel  their  wealth  ;  and  a  play  was  made 
to  the  "common  people,"  by  making  exceptions  in  their  favor. 
The  bridge  corporation  played  to  the  gallery,  to  obtain  its  end. 
without  the  opposition  of  the  people,  just  as  corporations  do,  in 
these  days. 

While  the  toll  for  wagons  and  sleds,  carrying  wood  to  the 
First  and  Second  Wards,  (which  was  really  the  city  proper,  the 
Third  and  Fourth  Wards  being  the  towns  of  Rotterdam  and 
Glenville),  and  for  farm-wagons,  going  to  and  from  work,  was 
but  6  1-4  cents;  and  while  nothing  was  charged  for  crossing  the 
bridge  to  attend  church,  the  toll  for  a  two-wheeled  pleasure- 
wagon,  drawn  by  two  horses,  jacks  or  mules,  was  18  3-4  cents, 
with  6  cents  for  each  additional  animal ;  and,  for  "a  four-wheel 
pleasure-carriage,  the  body  of  which  is  suspended  on  springs," 
drawn  by  one  animal,  it  was  25  cents,  with  12  1-2  cents  for  each 
additional  animal.  In  this  way,  the  rich  were  made  to  pay  and 
the  humble  were  quieted,  by  playing  to  their  pockets.  It  was 
clearly  shown,  by  this  act,  that  the  keeping  of  a  spring  pleasure- 
carriage  was  considered  evidence  of  affluence. 

This  same  act  made  it  unlawful  for  the  company  to  pay 
more  than  eight  per  cent,  to  the  stock-holders,  upon  its  capitaliza- 
tion. 

As  time  went  on,  attempts  were  made,  by  the  people,  to  do 
away  with  the  toll-bridge  and  to  make  it  free.  With  this  end  in 
view,  the  old  bridge  was  regularly  indicted  by  the  grand  jury,  on 
a  charge  of  being  unsafe.  Expert  engineers  were  brought  here 
to  examine  the  bridge  and  to  pass  upon  its  safety.  But  a  strange 
thing  had  happened  in  the  building  of  additional  piers,  under  the 


128  Old  Schenectady. 

portions  which  had  sagged  below  the  level  of  the  driveway.  These 
piers  had  changed  the  structure  from  a  suspension-bridge  to  a 
form  of  bridge  of  which  the  engineers  had  no  knowledge.  There 
was  absolutely  no  manner  in  which  the  expert  engineers  could 
determine  where  the  strain  of  the  bridge  was.  Some  of  the  great 
upright  timbers  which  support  the  loops  of  the  cables,  on  the 
three  original  piers,  had  rotted  off  at  their  lower  ends  ;  and  still 
the  structure  was  as  strong  as  when  it  rested  upon  these  timbers. 
In  addition,  the  experts  had  testified  as  to  the  length  of  life  of  a 
wooden-bridge  and  this  old  bridge  had  lived  more  than  twice 
as  long  and  was,  still,  sound. 

In  January,  the  late  C.  P.  Sanders,  who  was  the  leader  of 
the  free-bridge  party,  succeeded  in  purchasing,  quietly,  in  small 
blocks,  633  shares  of  the  stock — thus  gaining  control  of  the  com- 
pany. At  a  meeting  of  share-holders,  Mr.  Sanders  succeeded  in 
getting  the  late  Dr.  Barent  H.  Mynderse,  the  late  Judge  Walter 
T.  L.  Sanders  and  himself,  elected  directors — the  other  two,  being 
Piatt  Potter  and  William  Van  Vranken,  who  built  the  old  mansion 
which  stood  on  the  south-east  corner  of  State  and  Clinton  streets, 
on  the  site  of  the  Schenectady  Savings  Bank.  Potter  and  Van 
Vranken  were  bitterly  opposed  to  the  selling  of  the  bridge  to  make 
it  free,  Van  Vranken,  because  his  salary,  as  treasurer,  was  a  good 
one  and  he  disliked  loosing  it. 

Mr.  Sanders  generally  accomplished  what  he  wished.  In 
1873,  he  had  a  bill  presented  to  the  Legislature,  permitting  the 
City  of  Schenectady,  and  the  Towns  of  Glenville,  Niskayuna,  Clif- 
ton Park,  Charlton,  and  Ballston  to  pay  $12,000  for  the  old 
bridge;  $6,000  for  Freemans  bridge  and  $6,000  for  the  Aqueduct 
bridge,  each  town  paying  $4,000  of  the  total  $24,000.  New 
bridges  were  to  be  built  and  the  bridges  were  to  be  free.  Glen- 
ville was  to  keep  the  new  bridge,  from  Scotia  to  the  city,  in 
repair. 

Before  the  bill  was  presented,  Governor  Dix  Was  seen,  in 
regard  to  it.  Governor  Dix  said  that,  in  his  college  days,  at 
Union,  he  was  familiar  with  the  old  wooden-bridge  to   Scotia 


The  Old  Bridee. 


129 


and  that  the  proposition  to  make  it  free,  was  a  step  in  the  right 
direction.  In  those  days,  the  City  and  Towns  of  the  County  were 
at  hot  war — the  City  taking  any  possible  steps  to  defeat  the 
Towns.  It  may  be  said,  parenthetically,  that  some  of  the  scenes 
which  took  place,  at  meetings  of  the  lioard  of  Supervisors,  would 
have  ended  in  the  police-court,  in  these  days. 

The  opposition  was  led  by  Mayor  A.  W.  Hunter  and 
several  other  prominent  men  of  the  city.  They  sent  emissaries 
to  the  outlying"  districts  of  the  Towns,  to  stir  up  the  people  to 
join  in  the  opposition.  The  bill  was  presented  and  the  opposition 
gave  notice  that  it  would  be  opposed,  when  the  hearing,  in  com- 
mittee, wis  given.  Mr.  Sanders  and  the  other  friends  of  free- 
bridges,  found  that  there  would  be  a  delay  ;  so  another  bill  was 
drawn  and  substituted,  and  when  Mayor  Hunter  and  the  other 
members  of  the  opposition  appeared  before  the  committee,  at  the 
hearing,  they  were  told  that  they  had  no  standing,  as  another 
bill  had  been  presented,  asking  for  permission  for  Glenville  alone 
to  buy  the  old  wooden  bridge.     This  bill  became  a  law. 

On  the  day  the  bill  was  to  go  to  the  Governor,  for  his  sig- 
nature, a  clever  bit  of  diplomacy  was  used,  to  help  the  cause  of 
the  free-bridge  advocates.  Both  the  friends  and  opposers  of  the 
bill  went  to  Albany,  to  appear  before  the  Governor.  On  arriving 
there,  it  was  found  that  the  Governor  was  out  of  town.  This 
was  fatal  to  the  supporters  of  a  free-bridge ;  so  Mr.  Sanders  and 
some  of  the  others  went  up  Maiden  Lane,  a  short  cut,  from  the 
station  to  the  Capitol,  ami  made  known  their  difficulty.  Friends 
there  arranged  matters,  by  having  a  man.  who  resembled  Gover- 
nor Dix,  in  form,  to  sit  in  his  chair.  It  so  happened  that  not  one 
of  the  opposition  knew  the  Governor,  by  sight;  so,  when  they 
were  ushered  into  his  room,  they  stated  their  case  and  the  man, 
sitting  in  the  Governor's  chair,  assured  the  opposition  that  he 
would  not  sign  the  bill ;  and  so  they  went  home,  rejoicing.  When 
Governor  Dix  returned  to  Albany,  he  signed  the  bill  and  the 
opposition  went  to  see  him,  in  anything  but  a  happy  frame  of 


130  Old  Schenectady. 

mind ;  but  when  they  were  presented,  they  found  that  the  man 
who  had  made  the  promise  and  the  man  who  signed  the  bill  were 
very  different  individuals. 

The  success  of  Mr.  Sanders  and  his  free-bridge  party  and 
the  clever  manner  in  which  the  town  had  been  forced  into  advo- 
cating the  greatest  good,  for  the  greatest  number,  that  is,  free 
bridges,  somewhat  roiled  the  voters.  They  vowed  that  they  would 
get  even,  when  election- time  came ;  but  again,  they  had  to  deal 
with  a  man  whose  political  acumen  fitted  him  for  state,  rather 
than  county  leadership. 

On  election  day,  all  the  stores  and  the  two  or  three  broom- 
shops  in  Scotia,  were  shut  down  and  the  men  sent  to  the  Town 
House,  to  "whoop-it-up"  for  free-bridges.  They  arrived  upon 
the  scene,  with  a  shout,  and  every  time  that  they  0aw  anybody, 
especially  a  new  comer,  they  shouted  for  free-bridges  and  they 
drank  to  the  success  of  free-bridges.  Every  time  that  the 
opponents  attempted  any  enthusiasm,  they  were  silenced  by  the 
shouts  of  the  others.  Finally,  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  got 
together  and  decided  that,  as  everybody  seemed  to  be  for  free- 
bridges,  they  did  not  care  to  be  snowed  under,  and  to  be  laughed 
at ;  so  the  majority  of  them  voted  the  free-bridge  ticket,  which 
put  Mr.  Sanders  in  the  Board  of  Supervisors. 

Mr.  Van  Vranken  and  Mr.  Potter  still  opposed  the  sale  of 
the  old  wooden  bridge ;  so  Mr.  Sanders  asked  them  to  say  what 
they  would  do  about  it.  Mr.  Van  Vranken  said  that  he  would 
agree  to  sell  for  so  much  a  share,  the  total,  amounting  to  $12,600, 
he,  thinking  that  the  extra  $600  would  kill  the  whole  business. 
Mr.  Sanders,  as  supervisor,  paid  the  $12,000  and  the  $600  was 
raised  by  private  subscription  in  Scotia. 

When  the  time  came  to  pay  for  the  old  bridge,  another  very 
clever  move  was  made,  which  saved  the  inhabitant-taxpayers  of 
Glenville  from  paying  a  cent  of  the  additional  assessment  for 
raising  the  $12,000  and  made  the  non-resident  taxpayers  bear 
the  burden  of  the  assessment  for  the  purchase  of  the  bridge. 
This  was  accomplished  by  the  vote,  authorizing  the  using  of  the 


The  Old  Bridge.  131 

accumulated  funds,  obtained  from  the  old  quit-rents  and  from 
the  commutation  of  the  quit-rents,  to  pay,  for  the  inhabitant-tax- 
payers, the  extra  assessment  for  the  purchase  of  the  bridge.  In 
order  to  make  this  clear,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  into  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 

In  the  earliest  days,  when  the  land  belonged  to  the  Crown, 
inducements  were  offered  to  Court  favorites  to  go  to  the  Colony, 
for  settlement,  so  that  the  domain  would  lie  greatly  increased  in 
value,  and,  thus,  make  a  resultant  increase  in  royal  revenues. 
Immense  tracts  of  land  were  granted  to  these  men,  by  Royal 
Patent,  the  consideration  (or  price)  being  that  they  should  cause 
to  be  settled  and  worked,  a  certain  portion  of  the  grants. 

To  accomplish  this,  the  Proprietors,  or  the  Patroons,  offered 
inducements  to  immigrants  to  settle  upon  their  lands.  These 
settlers  were  given  farms,  varying  in  size,  for  which  no  lump-sum 
in  cash  war  paid,  but  a  nominal  rent,  called  "quit  rents,"  which 
were  to  be  paid  forever.  For  a  century  or  more,  these  rents  were 
paid  in  produce  of  the  land.  Sometimes,  it  was  a  small  quantity 
of  wheat  and  the  like  ;  in  one  curious  contract,  the  rent  was  sev4n- 
tenths  of  a  board  ;  a  board  being  twelve  feet  long,  six  inches  wide 
and  one  inch  thick.  After  the  people  began  to  be  more  prosperous 
and  money  was  not  an  unusual  possession,  small  sums  of  money 
were  paid.  Sometimes  it  was  a  lump-sum  yearly ;  but  generally 
it  was  so  much  an  acre,  ten  or  fifteen  cents  being  the  usual  rental. 
While  this  was  so  small,  in  the  individual  case,  the  total  was  con- 
siderable ;  for  the  grants  to  the  Proprietors  included  tens  of 
thousands  of  acres. 

Up  to  T820,  Glenville  was  the  fourth  ward  of  Schenectady 
and  Rotterdam  was  the  third.  In  this  year,  they  were  set  off  into 
towns.  In  order  to  equalize  matters,  Glenville,  (for  that  is  the 
only  town  we  are  concerned  with),  was  divided  into  "Great 
Lots" — the  town  taking  one  and  the  city  the  next,  and  where  the 
valuations  did  not  equalize,  city  lots  were  given  to  the  town. 

When  anyone  wished  to  obtain  a  farm,  from  lands  belonging 
to  the  town,   these  purchasers  paid  no   money,   other  than   the 


The  Old  Bridge.  133 

annual  quit-rent.  Should  a  man  wish  to  rid  himself  of  the  rent, 
he  would  pa)-  to  the  town  a  sum  of  money,  which  would  repre- 
sent the  principal  of  which  the  rem  would  he  the  interest.  For 
instance;  if  the  rent  was  $7  a  year,  the  tenant  would  pay  $100, 
that  being  the  principal,  the  interest  of  which  would  he  $7.  The 
town  loaned  this  money  and  put  it  out  to  interest,  in  various  ways  ; 
so  that,  in  time,  it  became  a  considerable  sum. 

\\  lien  the  agreement  was  made  to  sell  the  old  bridge,  a 
resolution  was  adopted,  by  the  trustees  of  the  town,  to  apply  this 
accumulated  fund  on  the  inhabitant  taxes.  In  this  way,  the 
inhabitant  taxpayers  of  Glenville  paid  only  the  usual  county  tax — 
the  excess  of  assessment  for  the  purchase  of  the  bridge  being 
paid  by  the  trustees  from  the  quit-rents'  fund.  But  the  non- 
resident taxpayers  and  the  railroads  had  to  pay  the  full  assess- 
ment.   As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  paid  for  the  bridge. 

The  old  bridge  was  sold  for  $500  and  many  of  its  timbers 
went  to  build  some  of  the  barns  and  stables  which  are  standing  in 
Scotia  and  the  surrounding  country,  to-day. 

When  the  time  came  to  tear  down  the  old  bridge,  it  was 
thought  that  it  would  be  an  easy  job;  but  it  was  so  strongly  built, 
that  the  work  was  really,  very  difficult.  The  long  square  rods, 
which  supported  the  lioor  of  the  driveway  and  the  hundreds  of 
bolts,  which  held  the  planks  and  timbers  together,  had  become 
so  twisted  by  the  strain,  when  the  high  water  was  on  and  by  the 
blows  of  debris,  which  smashed  against  it,  in  the  flood,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  pull  them  out.  The  only  thing  which  could  be 
done  was  to  saw  the  bridge  apart ;  and  this  was  accomplished.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  Aaron  Burr  was  the  architect  of  the  old 
wooden-bridge,  and  if  his  namesake  of  Revolutionary  days,  had 
builded  as  well,  his  name  would  now  be  among  those  of  the 
honored  ones. 

The  contract  for  the  present  bridge  was  given  to  The  Rem- 
ington Agricultural  Co.,  for  $29,993.07.  Other  expenditures 
were:  Price  paid  for  the  old  bridge,  less  the  price  it  was  sold 
for,  was  $11,500;  filling  approaches,  $400;  toll  house,  $169.75; 


34 


Old  Schenectady. 


stoning  abutments  and  piers,  $558.75  ;  raising  and  repairing  abut- 
ments and  piers.  $15,076.23;  rip-rap,  piles,  etc.,  $3,094.81;  stone 
for  approaches,  $147.78;  filling  abutments,  $189.75;  extras,  $634; 
to  the  engineer,  $1,125,  making  a  total  of  $60,355.34.  These 
figures  are  not  generally  known ;  for  the  book  in  which  they  were 
kept  was  mysteriously  lost,  by  the  town  official,  whose  business  it 
was  to  guard  it,  on  his  way  home  from  town-meeting. 


Interior  of  the  "Bridge. 


Chapter  IX< 
Early  Transportation. 


RIVER  NAVIGATION. 

HE  earliest  means  of  communication  between  settle- 
I  ments  for  travel  and  especially  for  carrying"  the  pelts 

from  the  wilderness  and  the  inland  and  Great  Lakes, 
aIa      was  the  birch-bark  canoe  of  the  Indians.     These  were 
TAT        succeeded  by  batteaux,  durham   boats  ami   finall)    b) 
^a         mal   boats  and  the  railroad  for  which  Mr.  Feather- 
^L^V      stonhaugh  had  worked  so  mam    years. 
^     ^      In  the  early    days  the    navigation    of    the    Mohawk 
^^w— '    was  difficult  for  there    were    many    "rifts"    or    sub- 
merged piles  of  river  stones  and  pebbles  which  had  been  forced 
up  to  near  the  surface  by  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  current  or  by 
freaks  in  the  current  due  to  unusually  high  water  in  the  spring  or 
ice  jams.     Although  some  of    these    "rifts"    have    changed,    or 
entirely   disappeared    during   generations,    they    were    practically 
permanent  during  a  lifetime  so  they  were  all  well  known  and  each 
had  its  distinctive  name. 

Schenectady  being  the  easternmost  end  of  river  navigation, 
the  "rifts"  were  all  west  of  Schenectady.  The  first  of  these,  a 
few  miles  west  of  the  city,  was  called,  "Six  flats  rift,"  then  came 
"Fort  Hunter  rift,"  Caughnawaga,  Keator,  (the  worst  on  the 
iver,  there  being  a  fall  of  ten  feet.)  Brandywine,  at  Canajoharie, 
trery  rapid  but  short ;  Eheler,  near  Fort  Plain,  and  finally,  Little 
Palls,  so  called  in  distinction  from  the  great  falls  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  near  the  City  of  Cohoes. 

The  first  freight  and  passenger  vessel,  as  has  been  said,  was 
the  birch-bark  canoe  and  this  was  the  only  means  of  carrying 
freight  upon  the  river  up  to  1740.     About  that  year,  several  of 


River  Navigation.  137 

the  great  Indian  traders,  among  them  being  Sir  William  Johnson 
(as  he  later  became),  John  Duncan,  Daniel  Campbell,  Janus 
Ellice,  Charles  Martin,  having  seen  the  superior  qualities  of  the 
batteaux  of  the  Canadians,  introduced  them,  and  began  to  use 
them  on  the  Mohawk.  The  batteau  was  longer  than  the  canoe, 
broader  amidship,  sharp  at  bow  and  stern  and  much  more  strongly 
built  than  the  canoe.  This  latter  quality  made  it  possible  to  drag 
them  over  shallow  places,  an  operation  which  the  canoe  could  not 
stand  without  serious  injury. 

These  boats  were  forced  up  the  lesser  rapids  by  means  of 
poles,  work  at  which  the  rivermen  were  most  skillful.  At  the 
stronger  rapids  they  would  be  towed  by  ropes  leading  from  the 
boats  to  a  number  of  the  "crew"  on  shore.  Where  there  were 
falls,  as  at  Little  Falls,  the  loads  were  carried  around  and  then 
the  batteau  was  treated  in  the  same  manner.  Or,  when  it  was 
desired  to  go  from  one  navigable  stream  to  another,  as  at  Fort 
Stanwix  from  the  Mohawk,  to  Wood  creek,  the  same  laborious 
carrying  was  necessary.  From  Wood  creek  they  continued  to 
Oneida  lake,  the  Oswego  river  to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario, 
whence  they  could  go  to  other  settlements  or  trading  posts  on 
that  lake  or  down  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  If  they  wished  to  go 
into  the  far  west  to  Detroit  or  Mackinaw,  it  was  necessary  to 
carry  around  Niagara  falls  to  Chippewa.  These  batteaux  were 
in  use  till  about  1790. 

In  this  century  of  from  forty  to  eighty  miles  an  hour  in 
express  trains,  electric  trolley  cars  and  steamboats,  such  a  journey 
does  not  appeal  to  the  people  of  to-day.  The  imagination  cannot 
picture  the  toil  and  hardship,  the  wet,  cold  and  hunger,  the  danger 
from  natural  causes,  from  wild  beasts  and  wilder  men.  Perhaps 
nothing  will  so  strongly  emphasize  the  hardihood  of  these  traders 
and  boatmen  as  the  statement  in  a  letter  from  the  wardens  of 
St.  George's  Church  in  Schenectady  to  the  secretary  of  the  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  in  London, 
that  it  was  difficult  to  pledge  a  fixed  salary  for  the  rector  because 
so  many  of  the  congregation  were  Indian  traders  to  the  Great 


'3« 


Old  Schenectady. 


Lakes  and  did  not  always  return  within  a  year.  Besides  the 
hardships  and  dangers,  these  men  were  deprived  for  months,  and 
even  a  year,  of  the  society  of  their  families  and  even  the  primitive 
comforts  of  their  homes. 

About  1790,  General  Philip  Schuyler,  who  was  then  Sur- 
veyor General  of  the  State,  organized  a  company  known  as  The 
Inland  Lock  Navigation  Co.  Among  the  stockholders  were  many 
Schenectadians.     This  company  constructed  locks  and    a    short 


An    Early   View  of  Dock   Street. 

canal  at  Little  Falls  and  a  canal  connecting  the  Mohawk  with 
Wood  creek  thus  doing  away  with  the  two  carries.  The  locks 
and  short  canals  were  completed  in  1795.  In  that  year  began 
Schenectady's  greatest  prosperity ;  a  prosperity,  all  things  con- 
sidered, which  was  greater  than  that  of    1904  with    the    fifteen 


River  Navigation.  139 

thousand  employes  of  the  General  Electric  and  American  Locomo- 
tive Companies  and  their  combined  pay  rolls  of  $700,000  a  month. 

In  1795  and  '96  Jacob  S.  Glen,  Eri  Lusher,  Jonathan  Walton, 
S.  N.  Bayard  and  other  of  the  great  shippers,  added  to  the 
already  considerable  wharfage  on  the  Binni  Kill  and  built 
additional  storehouses  of  great  capacity. 

Then  began  the  era  of  the  durham  boat,  a  name  which 
Major  MacMurray,  Pearson's  editor,  thinks  was  derived  from 
the  same  source  as  the  dorey,  which  is  still  the  popular  small 
boat  of  the  fisherman  of  Long  Island  Sound  and  the  New  Eng- 
land coast.  The  durham  boat,  if  not  a  thing  of  beauty,  was  one 
of  great  utility.  They  were  in  shape  something  like  the  modern 
canal  boat  but  had  finer  lines  fore  and  aft,  the  bow  and  stern 
being  of  a  rounding  taper  instead  of  blunt.  They  had  short 
decks  fore  and  aft  and  narrow  decking  along  the  sides,  upon 
which  the  boatmen  stood  or  walked  back  and  forth  while  poling 
up  rapids.  They  were  provided  with  masts  near  the  center  of 
the  boats  which  were  rigged  with  square,  or  ship  sails,  and 
were  only  of  use  when  the  wind  was  aft  or  quartering,  beating 
up  the  wind  being  impossible.  These  boats  were  from  ten  to 
twenty  tons  burthen  and  had  crews  of  five  or  six  men.  The 
greater  size  and  weight  of  the  durham  boats  made  the  labor  of 
forcing  them  up  the  lesser  "rifts"  much  greater.  There  being 
strength  in  union,  it  was  the  custom  for  several  boats  to  leave 
port  in  company  so  that  the  combined  crews  of  all  could  the  more 
easily  pull  and  push  each  individual  boat  up  with  less  labor. 
The  life  was  tough  and  the  men  were  tougher  and,  like  their 
saltwater  brother,  when  in  port  they  generally  succeeded  in  having 
a  time  which  has  been  aptly  described  by  one  who  knew,  as  "A 
monkey  and  parrot  time." 

Eri  Lusher,  being  somewhat  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  progress, 
in  1 81 5  established  a  daily  line  of  durham  packets  between 
Schenectady  and  Utica  for  carrying  only  passengers.  Instead 
of  being  open  for  the  greater  portion  of  their  length,  as  was  the 
case  in  the  freight  boats,  they  were  provided  with  a  trunk  cabin 


1 4°  Old  Schenectady. 

handsomely  furnished.  Their  capacity  was  twenty-five  passengers 
and  their  schedule  was  thirteen  hours  from  Utica  to  Schenectady ; 
from  Schenectady  to  I'tica  two  days,  if  the  wind  was  up  stream 
and  the  water  was  high,  otherwise  "the  schedule  was  busted." 

The  carrying  of  skins  and  travelers  toward  the  east  was  by 
means  of  packhorses  first  of  all  and  then  heavy,  rough  carts  were 
used  between  Schenectady  and  Albany.  From  Albany  to  the 
then,  as  now,  great  shipping  port  of  Xew  York,  the  pelts  were 
carried  on  sloops  and  the  merchandize  and  necessities  for  the 
settlers  were  brought  back  by  them.  The  trip  each  way,  under 
ordinary  condition,  required  seven  days.  This  was  the  means 
of  communication  between  Schenectady  and  the  west,  with  New 
York,  before  the  Revolution.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  first 
mail  to  arrive  in  Schenectady  was  on  April  3,  1763.  This  was  a 
letter  from  Sir  William  Johnson  to  Samuel  Fuller. 

While  the  Revolution  had  impoverished  the  country  and 
reduced  the  population,  it  was  the  means  of  arousing  the  people  to 
an  appreciation  of  the  necessity  for  going  ahead,  especially  in 
the  matter  of  greater  facilities  for  communication  between  out- 
lying settlements  and  Xew  York. 

Isaac  Wyck,  Talmage  Hall,  and  John  Kinney  were  granted 
exclusive  right  by  the  Legislature  in  1785,  to  maintain  a  stage 
line  between  Albany  and  Xew  York.  Their  charter  required  that 
they  should  have  at  least  two  covered  wagons  drawn  by  four 
horses  and  that  they  should  make  the  trip  each  way,  at  least  once 
a  week.  Should  they  fail  to  do  so,  they  forfeited  their  cbarter. 
The  first  trip  was  made  in  June  of  that  year.  The  start  was 
made  from  the  Xew  York  terminus  at  Hull's  tavern  and  from 
Albany  at  the  King's  Arms  (later  the  City  Tavern)  both  stages 
meeting  halfway,  at  Poughkeepsie.  The  fare  was  eight  cents  a 
mile.  In  1804  the  trips  were  made  in  three  days,  the  stops  over 
night  being  at  Peekskill  and  Rhinebeck,  and  the  fare  was 
reduced  to  $8.  Previous  to  18 18  the  stages  had  been  springless, 
but  in  that  year  the  great  leathern  straps  were  used  on  which  to 
sling  the  body  of  the  coach.     This  improved  traveling  and  made 


River  Navigation.  141 

the  coaches  comfortable.  It  was  not  long  before  the  carrying 
business  had  increased  so  greatly  that  one  hundred  stages  left 
Albany  over  the  several  routes  daily.  This,  of  course,  made 
Albany  a  very  busy  place. 

In  1793,  Schenectady  had  its  first  regular  stage  line.  Moses 
Beal,  the  proprietor  of  a  first-class  tavern,  (a  brick  building 
which  was  on  the  site  of  the  old  Givens  house,  now  the  site  of 
the  Edison  hotel),  started  a  stage  line  to  Albany,  Johnstown  and 
Canajoharie,  the  stage  making  the  journey  once  a  week.  The 
fare  was  three  cents  a  mile.  This  line  was  a  great  convenience 
for  travelers  and  increased  trade  between  Schenectady  and  other 
places  and  was  profitable  for  Beal. 

The  profitableness  of  stages  appealed  so  strongly  to  John 
Hudson,  who  kept  the  Schenectady  Coffee  House,  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Union  and  Ferry  streets, — where  Shankle's  grocery 
store  stands — that  he  established  a  line  of  stages  between  Schenec- 
tady and  Albam  and  made  the  journey  three  times  a  week.  John 
Rogers,  of  Ballston,  established  a  line  to  connect  with  Hudson's, 
thus  giving  through  communication  with  Saratoga  Springs.  In 
1704  there  were  five  great  post  routes  terminating  at  Albany. 
They  were:  to  New  York  City;  Burlington,  Vermont;  Brookfield, 
Massachusetts ;  Springfield,  Massachusetts ;  and  to  Schenectady, 
Johnstown,  Canajoharie,  German  Flats,  Whitestown,  Old  Fort 
Schuyler,  Onondaga,  Aurora,  Scipio,  Geneva,  Canandaigua,  and 
eventually  to  Buffalo.  Each  of  the  four  eastern  lines  carried  a 
weekly  mail ;  on  the  western,  once  in  two  weeks.  The  business 
on  the  western  line  had  increased  so  greatly  by  18 12  that  to  see 
ten  or  twelve  stages  on  the  Dike  between  Schenectady  and  Scotia 
at  one  time  was  not  unusual. 

On  August  17,  1807,  the  first  Hudson  river  steamboat,  The 
Cleremont,  was  established.  The  time  for  leaving  New  York  was 
at  6  o'clock  every  Saturday  afternoon.  The  time  required  in 
reaching  West  Point  was  ten  hours ;  Newburgh,  thirteen  hours ; 
Poughkeepsie,  seventeen  hours  ;  Catskill,  twenty-five  hours  ;  Hud- 
son, twenty-nine    hours;    and    Albany    thirty-four    hours.     The 


Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R.  143 

return  was  made  from  Albany  every  Wednesday  morning  at  8 
o'clock.  The  fares  were:  from  Xew  York  to  West  Point,  $2.50; 
to  Newburgh,  $3.00;  to  Poughkeepsie,  $3.50;  to  Hudson,  $5.00; 
and  to  Albany,  $7.00.  Passengers  wishing  to  stop  at  other  than 
the  regular  places  paid  at  the  rate  of  $1  for  each  twenty  miles. 
Meals  on  board  the  boat  were  fifty  cents  each.  Now,  in  1904, 
the  charges  are  reversed;  the  fare  being  greatly  reduced  and  the 
cost  of  meals  greatly  increased. 

MOHAWK  &  HUDSON  R.  R. 

The  first  steps  toward  the  present  vast  railroad  systems  of 
the  North  American  Continent  were  taken  in  Schenectady  by  a 
resident  of  Duanesburg,  Schenectady  County,  a  man  whose  repu- 
tation as  a  diplomat,  scientist,  explorer  and  author,  extended  over 
both  hemispheres. 

George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  an  English  gentleman — the 
son-in-law  of  Judge  James  Duane,  the  patriot,  statesman,  and 
friend  of  Washington — was  residing  on  his  thousand-acre  estate 
in  Duanesburg  in  1812.  His  acquaintance  with  George  Stephen- 
son caused  him  to  investigate  the  possibilities  of  the  steam 
locomotive  as  a  means  of  opening  new  territory  and  increasing 
the  commerce  and  wealth  of  the  country. 

In  1812  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  began  a  series  of  articles 
which  were  published  in  the  periodicals  of  that  day.  They 
excited  the  ridicule  of  the  masses.  His  intellectual  equals  con- 
sidered him  a  visionary  and  very  few  gave  his  ideas  serious  con- 
sideration. To  a  man  of  his  calibre,  ridicule  did  not  discourage 
nor  did  faith  elate.  He  foresaw  the  possibilities  of  the  steam 
railroad  and  continued  to  write  on  the  subject  and  to  investigate. 
For  thirteen  years  he  was  the  only  believer  in  the  locomotive. 

At  last,  finding  that  he  must  move  in  the  matter  alone,  he,  on 
December  28,  1825,  published  the  following  notice  of  application 
in  the  Schenectady  Cabinet,  a  newspaper : 

"Application  will  be  made  to  the  Legislature  at  the  opening 
session,  for  the  passage  of  an  act  to  incorporate  the  Mohawk  & 


144 


Old  Schenectady. 


I 


Hudson  Railroad  Company,  with  an  exclusive  grant  for  a  term  of 
years  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  betwixt  the  Mohawk  and 
Hudson  rivers,  with  a  capital  of  $300,000  to  be  increased  to 
$500,000,  if  necessary,  and  to  receive  such  certain  tolls  on  the 
same  as  may  seem  fit  for  the  Legislature  to  grant." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  proprietor  of  The  Cabinet 
told  Air.  Featherstonhaugh  that  if  the  charter  were  granted  he 
could  pay  for  the  advertisement,  otherwise  there  would  be  no 
charge.  The  charter  was  granted  on  March  26,  1826,  after  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh.  had  appeared  before  the  Legislature  to  argue 
the  matter  and  explain  his  ideas  and  the  reason  for  his  faith  in 
railroads.  He  believed  that  if  the  two  great  water-ways  of  the 
vState,  over  which  thousands  of  tons  of  freight  were  transported 
yearly  to  and  from  the  great  markets  of  the  east  and  the  fertile 
territory  of  the  interior  of  Xew  York,  were  connected  by  a  rail- 
road, that  the  practicability  of  railroads  could  be  better  demon- 
strated than  anywhere  else.  There  were  but  two  incorporators; 
Stephen     Van     Rensselaer,     the     last     Patroon,     who     was     th< 


of  Mohawk   &  Hudson   Railway,   Crane   Street,  Mt.  Pleasant. 


Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R.  145 

president,  and  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  the  vice-president. 
Peter  Fleming  was  the  construction  engineer.  Mr.  Fleming's 
estimate  for  the  construction  of  twenty  miles  of  railroad  was 
$320,000.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  went  to  England  to  consult 
with  George  Stephenson  the  year  the  charter  was  granted  and 
remained  in  Europe  traveling  with  his  wife.  It  was  not  till  1828 
that  he  returned  to  America.  Mr.  Fleming  wrote  to  him  soon 
after  his  return  in  regard  to  money  matters  in  connection  with 
the  road.  Later  in  the  year  the  mansion  in  Duanesburg  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  This  loss  of  the  home  together  with  previous 
deaths  in  his  family  so  depressed  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  that  he 
gave  up  all  his  large  interests  to  his  agents  and  went  to  New 
York  city  to  reside. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  railroad  between  Baltimore  and 
Washington  was  older  as  a  road  in  actual  operation  than  the 
Mohawk  &  Hudson,  the  subject  of  railroads  for  practical  pur- 
poses originated  in  Schenectady  with  Mr.   Featherstonhaugh. 

It  seems  strange  that  this  railroad  history  should  be  so 
generally  unknown  and  that  the  management  of  the  child  of  the 
Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railroad,  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  Railroad,  should  be  ignorant  of  it  seems  stranger  still. 
That  it  was  unaware  of  these  facts  is  surmised  from  the  con- 
tents of  a  folder  advertising  its  St.  Louis  Fair  exhibit.  The 
following  is  quoted  from  a  paragraph  in  the  folder : 

"As  long  ago  as  181 1  Chancellor  Livingston,  who  was 
associated  with  Robert  Fulton  in  the  invention  of  the  steamboat, 
received  a  letter  from  some  'wild,  hair-brained  individual'  asking 
his  opinion  of  the  practicability  of  railroads.  After  giving  the 
matter  due  consideration,  the  worthy  chancellor  replied,  that 
besides  being  too  dangerous,  it  would  be  impossible  to  build  rails 
that  would  sustain  so  heavy  a  weight  as  you  propose  moving  at 
the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour  on  wheels." 

This  only  shows  in  a  striking  manner  how  tiny  a  thing  is 
world-wide  fame  in  the  commercial  mind. 

It  so  happens  that  the  "wild  hair-brained  individual"  was 


146  Old  Schenectady. 

George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  the  gentleman  who  was  honored 
by  the  countries  of  Europe  and  the -United  .States  for  his  work 
in  science,  literature,  exploration,  and  his  ability  as  a  diplomat ; 
the  personal  friend  of  Henry  Clay,  who  was  a  frequent  visitor  in 
the  Featherstonhaugh  mansion  in  Duanesburg ;  James  Madison. 
John  Ouincy  Adams,  Andrew  Jackson,  Daniel  Webster,  John 
C.  Calhoun,  Lafayette  and  Joseph  and  Jerome  Bonaparte,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  friends  in  the  government  of  Great  Britain. 
Besides,  it  also  so  happens  that  the  "worthy  chancellor"  (  fancy 
the  use  of  worthy  in  connection  with  a  Livingston  of  that  day  ) 
was  a  relative  of  the  beautiful  Sarah  Dtiane,  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh. 

This  is  indeed  the  century  and  nation  in  which  a  dollar  casts 
a  shadow  over  fame  not  based  upon  the  gold  standard. 

It  was  in  August,  1831,  that  the  locomotive,  DeWitt  Clinton, 
and  a  train  of  coaches  made  the  first  trip  from  Albany  to 
Schenectady.     Of  the  fourteen  passengers  who  made  that  first 


First   Train  on   Mohawk   &   Hudson   Railivav 


trip,  one  of  them,  Mr.  John  Matthias,  lived  to  celebrate  his 
hundredth  birthday  anniversary  in  Schenectady  in  November, 
1903.     He  remembered  the  trip  and  its  incidents  distinctly. 

When  the  public  contemplates  the  surroundings  of  a  multi- 
millionaire and  tries  to  guess  at  the  unlimited  things  he  can  do  and 
the  value  of  the  treasures  he  can  own,  to  think  of  him  as  having 
been  a  son  of  a  poor  father  takes  considerable  imagination.  When 
the  multi-millionaire  is  the  greatest  railroad  svstem  in  the  worid, 


Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R. 


47 


W 


even  greater  imagination  is  required  to  think  of  it  as  ever  having 
been  weak  and  poor,  yet  such  was  the  condition  of  the  parent  of 
the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad.  That  this 
railroad,  with  its  ten  thousand  miles  of  tracks;  its  influence  in 
the  affairs  of  the  wealthiest  State  of  the  Union  ;  with  its  stock 
quoted  up  to  a  point  almost  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  could 
be  the  off-spring  of  a 
parent  which  was  in 
such  a  condition  in  1839 
that  its  stockholders  re- 
quested a  statement  by 
the  management  of  its 
possessions,  its  earnings, 
and  its  ability  to  meet  its 
obligations,  yet  such  was 
the  fact. 

The  Mohawk  &  Hud- 
son Railway  Company 
began  its  active  exist- 
ence in  1 83 1,  by  connect- 
ing the  cities  of  Albany 
and  Schenectady,  16 
miles  apart.  On  Decem- 
ber 14,  1839,  a  letter  was 
addressed  to  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the 
road  consisting  of  John 
B.  Lasala,  David  Wood, 
Archibald  Craig,  Thomas 
Palmer  and  W.  L.  F. 
Warren,  requesting,  first, 
a  statement  as  to  the 
number  of  passengers 
and  quantity  of  freight 


OHAWK&HUDSON   RAILROAD 
_  The  following   arrangements  ■Will   b'e  ob- 
served on  the  Railroa  I,  until  further  notice: 

Carriages  will  leave  the  bead  of  the  inclined 
plane  |  of  a  mile  from  the  city  of  Schenectady, 
at  the  following  times: 

J  past  4  in  the  morning. 
8  o'clock  A.  M. 
12     do         noun. 
2     do         P.  M. 
4     do         P    M 
r-\  Leave  Albany  at   the  head  of  Lydius  street  2 
miles  from  the    Hudson   Rivtr,  at  the  following 
times. 

§  past  6  o'clock,  A.  M 
10  do  A.  M. 

i  past  4    do  P.  M 

The  Locomotive  Engine  DE  WITT  CLIN- 
TON, will  depart  in  the  folloing  order: 

Leave  head  of  plane  at  Schenectady  at  S  o'- 
clock, A.  M.  and  2  P.M.  Head  ot  Lydius  street, 
Albany,  at  10  o'clock,  A.  M.  and  \  past,  4,  P. 
M. 

Passengers 'taking  the  Carriages  at  Schenecta- 
dy at  I  half  past  4  in  the  morning,  will  arrive  at 
Albany  in  season  for  the  7  o'clock  morning  Steam- 
boats Those  leaving  at  12  o'clock,  in  ample  sea- 
son for  the  afternoon  Steamboats.  AUo.  those 
taking  the  Locomotive  at  2,  P.  M.  will  arrive  at 
Albany  in  season  for  (he  4  o'clock  Boats. 

Passages  may  be  secured  at  the  office  of  Messrs. 
Thorp's  &Sprague's,  in  Albany  and  Schenectady. 
Price,  induding stage  fare,  75  cts. 

JOHN  T.CLARK. 
Agent  of  the  H.  &  M.  Railroad  Co. 
N.   B.     Passengers  who  may  desire  it,  will  be 
accommodated  at  each  end  of  the>Railway  with 
tickets  at  50  cents.      Transportation  at   the  ends 
of  the  Railroad   will  be   furnished    by   Messrs. 
Thorps  &.  Sprague. 
822  tf 


The  First  Time-table  of  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railway,  1831 . 


transported,  with  the  receipts  since  the  first  year  of  the  road — 
second,  disbursements  each  year  in  detail — third,  cash  on  hand 


■ 


Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R.  149 

and  assets  on  December  31,  1839, — fourth,  liabilities  to  same 
date — fifth,  description  and  value  of  personal  property — sixth, 
value  of  the  real  estate  not  required  in  operating  the  road — 
seventh,  regulations  and  restrictions  under  which  the  income  is 
kept  and  disbursed — eight,  the  measures  adopted,  or  proposed, 
to  reduce  expenses — ninth,  state  of  repair  of  the  road  and  rolling 
stock  and  any  other  important  information. 

Thomas  Palmer,  the  secretary,  and  John  Costigan,  the 
superintendent  of  the  company,  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  in 
January,  1840,  submitted  their  report. 

In  1832,  the  year  the  road  began  to  operate,  no  account  of 
the  number  of  passengers  was  kept,  but  the  receipts  for  carrying 
them  were,  $51,600  and  the  cost,  $27,300.  No  freight  was  carried 
that  year. 

In  1833,  115,700  first  class  passengers  were  carried  for 
$69,300  at  an  expense  of  $35,600.  The  freight  from  Albany  was 
2,100  tons  and  from  Schenectady,  870,  with  receipts  of  $3,700  and 
cost  of  $1,000. 

In  1834,  135.300  first  class  and  8,100  second  class  passengers 
were  carried  for  $86,200,  at  an  expense  of  $37,200.  The  freight 
from  Albany  was  5,200  and  from  Schenectady  11,300  tons;  the 
receipts  were  $12,700  and  the  expenses  were,  $13,600. 

In  1835  there  were  164,100  first  class  and  8,600  second  class 
passengers  carried  for  $84,700,  at  an  expense  of  $42,900.  The 
freight  from  Albany  was  10,500,  and  from  Schenectady,  19,700 
tons;  the  receipts  were,  $26,200,  and  expenses,  $23,200. 

In  1836  there  were  152,800  first  class  and  6,600  second  class 
passengers  carried  for  $103,400,  at  an  expense  of  $54,800.  The 
freight  from  Albany  was  12,800,  and  from  Schenectady,  18,500 
tons;  the  receipts  were  $28,100,  and  the  expenses,  $23,900. 

In  1837  there  were  130,100  first  class  and  7,900  second  class 
passengers  carried  for  $97,700,  at  an  expense  of  $63,100.  The 
freight  from  Albany  was  6,300,  and  from  Schenectady,  10,300 
tons;  the  receipts  were  $14,400,  and  the  expenses,  $19,900. 

In  1838  there  were  134,100  first  class  and  9,400  second  class 
passengers  carried  for  $101,000.  at  an  expense  of  $64,900.  The 
freight  from  Albany  was  8,900.  and  from  Schenectady,  11.500 
tons ;  the  receipts  were  $19,200,  and  expenses  were  $19,200. 


15°  Old  Schenectady. 

In  1839  there  were  153,100  rirst  class  and  13,600  second  class 
passengers  carried  for  $116,600,  at  an  expense  of  $59,000.  The 
freight  from  Albany  was  12,300,  and  from  Schenectady  14,000 
tons ;  the  receipts  were  $25,800,  and  the  expenses  $25,400. 

The  total  receipts  for  carrying  freight  for  the  seven  years 
ending  with  1839  were  $130,400,  and  the  total  expense  $126,500. 
An  excess  of  but  $3,900  over  the  expenses.  The  passenger  busi- 
ness showed  a  much  better  condition  of  affairs.  The  total 
receipts  for  the  seven  years,  were  $692,800,  and  the  expenses 
$385,000,  making  the  excess  of  receipts  over  expenses  of  $307,800. 
While  everyone  knows  that  vigorous  maturity  must  be  preceded 
by  youth  and  feeble  infancy,  the  public  has  been  accustomed,  so 
long,  to  think  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  by  the  thousand 
miles  and  its  business  by  the  million  dollars  that  this  tiny  business 
of  the  parent  company  seems  hardly  possible.  The  number  of 
tons  of  freight  carried  from  Albany  in  the  seven  years  was 
58,300,  and  from  Schenectady  86,500. 

There  was  a  great  variation  of  fares  for  the  single  trip 
either  way.  From  January  1  to  April  12,  1833,  it  was  62  1-2 
cents;  to  September  6,  75  cents;  to  March  9,  1834,  37  1-2  cents; 
to  April  17,  1836,  50  cents;  to  August  25,  62  1-2  cents;  and  from 
August  26,  1836,  to  January  1,  1840,  it  was  75  cents.  A  con- 
cession was  made  to  the  citizens  of  the  two  cities,  as  they  were 
sold  return  tickets  for  62  1-2  cents  each  way.  Local  passengers 
in  second  class  cars  paid  2>7  I_2  cents  and  emigrants  from  the 
tow-boats,  31  1-4  cents  each. 

In  this  same  period  the  freight  rates  were,  from  Schenectady 
to  Albany,  for  freight  from  the  canal  boats,  62  1-2  cents  per  ton, 
but  if  a  ton  of  freight  was  sent  by  a  citizen  of  Schenectady,  he 
had  to  pay  one  dollar  a  ton  and  if  it  was  transhipped  from  the 
Saratoga  Railroad  the  charge  was  $1.25  a  ton. 

It  was  evidently  the  custom  to  "soak"  shippers  when  the 
busy  season  began,  for  the  report  explains  the  reason  for  the  large 
freight  receipts  in  November  and  December,  by  saying:  "This 
may  be  attributed  to  the  anxiety  of  owners  and  forwarders  of 


Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R.  151 

produce  to  get  the  same  to  market  before  the  closing  of  naviga- 
tion, and  also  to  the  Fact,  that  a  number  of  canal  boats,  heavily 
freighted  with  Hour,  etc.,  were  stopped  at  Schenectady  and 
vicinity,  by  the  sudden  closing  of  the  canal  and  were  obliged  to 
discharge  their  cargoes  at  that  place,  which  otherwise  would  have 
been  carried  by  canal  to  Albany."  Then  follows  the  ease  of 
conscience  for  taking  advantage  of  necessity  by  over-charging. 
"In  cases  of  this  kind,  when  the  press  of  business  is  great,  owners 
and  forwarders  are  willing  ( ?)  to  advance  the  rate  of  toll,  in 
consideration  of  the  advantage  they  expect  to  gain  by  expedition, 
and  the  loss  and  risk  sustained  by  delay." 

The  receipts  for  the  year  ending  December  31,  1839,  were 
$155,531.52.  Some  of  the  items  were  as  follows:  Rent  of  tene- 
ments occupied  by  employes  of  the  company,  $1,186.98;  fuel  sold 
to  employes  at  cost,  $467.11  ;  sale  of  horses,  harnesses  and  sleighs 
to  different  persons,  $531.39;  sale  of  old  iron  pipe,  rope,  lumber 
and  iron  safe,  $910;  sale  of  land  in  Schenectady,  $1,095.42;  sale 
of  paving  stones  to  Albany,  $324.75 ;  carrying  U.  S.  mail, 
$4,688.66,  all  of  which  shows  that  the  railroad  was  not  above  turn- 
ing an  honest  cent  in  almost  any  kind  of  business. 

Some  of  the  expenses  during  the  same  period,  were :  Labor 
and  material  in  the  machine,  blacksmith  and  woodworking  shops, 
$11,881.91;  wages  of  men  at  Schenectady  inclined  plane  (this 
was  in  the  present  Ninth  Ward,  formerly  Mount  Pleasant) 
$2,505.73;  the  same  in  Albany,  $1,522.98;  under  the  oddly  mixed 
items,  of  salaries  for  president,  secretary,  oil,  insurance,  etc., 
$4,993.76.  Of  this  sum  $300  was  paid  every  year  to  the  president 
and  $1,000  to  the  secretary  and  they  both  survived  it.  The  presi- 
dency was  a  fat  job  in  those  days.  In  1839  the  value  of  the  entire 
property  of  the  company  was  $156,137.00. 

The  rolling  stock  of  the  road  in  1839,  consisted  of  24  coaches, 
called  "gothic,"  with  a  seating  capacity  for  twenty  passengers 
each.  These  cost  about  $800  each.  There  were  fifteen  other 
coaches  for  passengers  of  a  plainer  style.  The  baggage  of  the 
traveling  public   (drummers  were  few  in  those  days  evidently) 


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Mohawk  &  Hudson  R.  R.  153 

was  carried  in  three  baggage  wagons,  while  the  better  class  of 
freight  was  carried  in  thirty-five  covered  wagons.  There  were 
forty-six  "hulk"  wagons,  probably  the  grand-parent  of  the  modern 
gondola  car,  fifteen  stake  wagons,  for  maintenance  of  way,  now 
called  construction  cars ;  two  old  baggage  wagons  and  one  small 
freight  wagon,  and  fifteen  balance  wagons  for  the  inclined  plane  in 
Albany,  and  seventeen  for  the  plane  in  Schenectady. 

This  inclined  plane  was  located  at  the  top  of  the  bluff  in 
Mount  Pleasant,  and  it  may  be  remarked  incidentally,  that  the 
bluff  in  1839  was  much  more  abrupt  than  it  is  now.  There  were 
great  windlasses  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  inclined  plane, 
worked  by  a  stationary  engine.  Around  them  was  a  great  hempen 
cable,  such  as  was  used  for  ships.  There  were  parallel  tracks 
and  on  one  were  the  balance  wagons,  loaded  with  stone  and 
attached  to  the  cable.  On  the  other  tracks  was  the  incoming 
train,  also  attached  to  the  cable  on  the  other  side.  If  the  train 
was  heavily  loaded,  all  of  the  balance  wagons  were  used  as  a 
counter  poise,  if  lighter,  some  of  them  were  left  off,  the  purpose 
being  to  have  the  train  a  trifle  heavier  than  the  loaded  balance 
wagons.  When  a  train  was  to  be  raised  from  the  foot  of  the 
plane,  the  balance  wagons  were  a  trifle  heavier  than  the  train.  In 
this  way  the  balance  wagons  being  at  the  top  of  the  plane  would 
descend  while  the  train  was  ascending.  When  the  train  reached 
the  bottom  of  the  plane  horses  were  attached  and  it  was  pulled  to 
the  station  on  the  bank  of  the  great  basin  of  the  Erie  canal.  This 
basin  was  located  somewhere  near,  and  probably  on  the  site  of, 
Peckham  &  Wolf's  lumber  yard  and  the  Mica  Insulating  Works 
on  Dock  street.  This  great  basin  was  where  the  canal  boats 
loaded  and  unloaded  from  and  into  the  freight  wagons  of  the 
Mohawk  &  Hudson  and  the  Saratoga  railroads  and  later  the 
Utica  railroad.  The  freight  depot  was  an  immense  affair,  one- 
half  of  it  belonged  to  the  M.  &  H.  R.  R.  and  was  valued  at 
$18,275.  The  cable  used  on  the  Schenectady  plane  cost  $933 ;  the 
other  in  Albany,  being  longer,  cost  $1,301. 

The  company  owned  nine  buildings  containing  thirteen 
tenements,  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  plane  in   Schenectady, 


1 54  Old  Schenectady. 

which  were  occupied  by  the  superintendent  and  the  working  men. 
They  were  valued  at  $11,000.  The  company  also  owned  lots 
adjoining  the  basin  worth  $10,000  and  on  the  north  side  of  the 
canal  worth,  $2,000.    The  basin  cost  $18,113. 

There  was  an  odd  confusion  in  the  minds  of  the  management 
in  regard  to  whether  second  class  passengers  were  freight  or 
simply  human  beings.  In  calling  the  attention  of  the  stock- 
holders to  the  fact,  "that  the  expenses  of  transporting  freight 
have  absorbed  nearly  the  whole  of  the  income  derived  from  that 
source,  not  including  second  class  passengers,  which  we  con- 
ceive do  not  strictly  belong  to  freight."  This  lack  of  profits  from 
freight  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  Erie  Canal,  owned  by 
the  State,  was  a  powerful  opponent,  and  that  in  order  to  com- 
pete with  it,  freight  charges  had  to  be  reduced  to  those  charged 
by  the  canal.  The  profits  from  freight  in  1833  were  $2,679.01  ; 
in  1839,  but  $455.10.  Again  is  the  uncertainty  in  regard  to 
second  class  passengers  displayed  by  the  statement  that :  "*  *  ;:: 
freight  received  from  and  delivered  to  the  Saratoga  Railroad, 
yielded  an  income  to  this  company  in  1838,  of  $7,122.73,  exclusive 
of  second  class  passengers."  In  1839  the  company's  capital  was 
one  million  dollars  and  that  that  sum  was  considered  vast  is 
shown  by  the  three  words  being  italicized  in  the  report. 


• 


Old   Style    Locomoti 


Chapter  X. 


GLEN-SANDERS. 

WAV  up  in  the  north  of  Scotland — the  land  of  rugged, 
A  romantic    scenery    and    of    rugged,    grand    manhood ; 

the  land  which  has  produced  the  greatest  scholars  and 
most  courageous  fighters ;  the  only  land,  in  Europe, 
which  can  boast  of  having  never  been  conquered — 
originated  the  Glens  of  Scotia. 

The  father  of  Alexander  Lindsey  Glen,  a  Scottish 
Chief,  intensely  religious  and  patriotic,  gave  his  life 
and  estate  to  his  king,  Charles  the  First,  as  did  so 
many  of  the  Highland  Chiefs.  When  he  found  that  the  price  of 
his  loyalty  to  his  king  was  his  life  and  property,  he  persuaded  his 
son  to  flee  across  the  North  Sea  to  Protestant  Holland,  that 
refuge  where  the  noble  and  simple  might  worship,  according  to 
the  dictates  of  their  consciences,  instead  of  according  to  the 
dictates  of  one  mart.  For  a  time,  this  son  of  a  Highland  Chief, 
remained  in  Holland  and  then  sailed  across  the  ocean  to  America. 
Inheriting  from  his  Scottish  ancestors  indomitable  will, 
sound  judgment  and  unbounded  hospitality  and  charity,  he 
founded  a  family,  the  descendants  of  which  were  as  prominent  in 
the  Colonial  governments,  and  later  in  the  State  governments,  as 
they  were  socially  and  charitably. 

There  is  every  probability  that  Alexander  Lindsey  did  not 
add  the  name  of  Glen  till  after  he  was  obliged  to  flee  from  Scot- 
land, the  name  being  simply  Lindsey.  The  greater  number  of 
families  who  were  forced  to  flee  from  Scotland  during  the 
Reformation  changed  their  names  by  dropping  a  portion  of  it  or 
adding  to  it  a  syllable,  or  in  the  case  of  such  families  as  possessed 
them,  the  name  of  the  estate  was  added.  The  Lindseys  of  Scot- 
land are  famous.    The  branch  of  the  family  from  which  the  Glens 


Glen-Sanders.  157 

of  Schenectady  County  is  descended  is  probably,  Sir  Alexander 
Lindsey,  the  younger  brother  of  Sir  James  Lindsey,  of  Crawford, 
the  hero  of  Otterburn. 

By  marriage  with  the  heiress  of  Sterling,  Sir  Alexander 
became  possessed  of  large  estates  in  Angus  and  Inverness,  one  of 
them  being  Glensk.  This  was  in  the  last  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century. 

Sir  James,  the  hero  of  Otterburn,  dying  without  an  heir, 
David,  the  son  of  Sir  Alexander,  became  the  chief  of  the  family 
and.  when  David  married  the  sister  of  Robert  III,  Robert  raised 
David  to  the  Earldom  of  Crawford,  in  1398. 

While  the  Glens  of  Schenectady  were  not  in  line  for  the 
title,  that  going  by  primogeniture  to  the  eldest  son,  and  they  being 
descended  from  a  younger  son,  they  still  are  of  the  same  blood 
as  the  hero  of  Otterburn,  and  Sir  Alexander  Lindsey,  who  married 
the  sister  of  Robert  III  and  became  the  Earl  of  Crawford. 

The  fine  old  Colonial  mansion  at  the  end  of  the  Dike  which, 
with  the  bridge,  joins  the  pretty  suburb  of  Scotia  to  the  city  of 
Schenectady,  overlooking  the  Mohawk  and  bearing  on  its  front 
the  large  hand-wrought  iron  letters  and  numerals:  "A  O  1713," 
is  notable,  for  many  reasons,  to  every  American  who  inherits  his 
citizenship  from  Colonial  days. 

It  was  built  of  material  taken  from  the  original  mansion 
built  by  Alexander  Lindsey  Glen,  the  founder  of  the  family  in 
America,  who  was  one  of  the  original  Fifteen  Proprietors  of 
Schenectady.  This  original  Glen  mansion  was  the  first  house 
built  upon  the  north  bank  of  the  Mohawk  river  for  the  entire 
135  miles  of  its  length.  Its  second  point  of  interest  is  that  it  was, 
for  many  generations,  the  place  of  safekeeping  of  Indian,  Colonial 
and  Revolutionary  official  documents  and  correspondence,  and  its 
third  point  of  interest  is  that  it  stands  on  the  property  which  has 
been  in  the  family  of  the  original  proprietor  of  the  estate  for  two 
hundred  and  forty-six  years. 

The  original  residence  was  built  about  1659,  on  the  bank  of 
river,  one  hundred  feet  south  of  the  present  residence ;  but  the 


158  Old  Schenectady. 

land  upon  which  it  stood  has  been  entirely  eaten  away  by  the 
river  and  nothing-  of  even  the  foundation  now  remains.  This 
particular  place  was  a  favorite  one  with  the  Indians.  On  a  knoll, 
a  little  to  the  east  of,  and  midway  between  the  sites  of  the  two 
houses,  was  the  spot  on  which  they  indulged  in  the  gladsome 
pastime  of  burning  their  prisoners  at  the  stake. 

The  original  proprietor,  Alexander  Lindsey  Glen,  whom  the 
Hollanders  called  Sander  Leendertse,  was  born  near  Inverness, 
Scotland,  about  1610.  He  was  a  partisan  in  the  days  of  Charles 
I.,  and  was  obliged  to  flee  to  Holland,  where  he  was  warmly 
received  and  whence  he  emigrated  with  the  early  Dutch  settlers  to 
the  Colony  of  New  Netherlands,  with  his  wife,  who  was  Catharine 
Dongan.  Mr.  Glen  was  a  man  of  liberal  education,  obtained  in 
the  land  of  his  birth,  a  gentleman  by  birth  and  a  man  of  large 
fortune,  by  inheritance.  He  was  very  Scotch  in  physique  and 
temper  and  was  endowed  with  a  degree  of  catholicity  which  made 
him  notable  for  his  broad-minded  tolerance  for  all  denominations 
of  the  Christian  faith  and  for  his  untiring  efforts  for  the  good, 
success  and  safety  of  others. 

In  1643,  Mr.  Glen  was  agent  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany, stationed  at  Fort  Nassau,  on  the  Delaware,  where  he  had 
received  a  grant  of  land.  In  1646  he  was  granted  land  in  New 
Amsterdam,  afterward  New  York,  and  was  possessed  of  con- 
siderable other  property,  consisting  of  houses,  land  and  cattle  at 
Graves  End,  on  Long  Island.  In  1658,  he  left  for  Schenectady, 
and  built  the  stone  mansion  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Mohawk 
and  named  his  estate  "Scotia,"  in  memory  of  the  land  of  the 
thistle,  the  heather  and  of  hardy  manhood.  The  title  to  the 
Scotia  estate  was  held  from  1658  to  1665,  under  title  granted  by 
the  rightful  and  original  owners,  the  Mohawk  Indians ;  in  the 
latter  year,  he  obtained  the  patent  to  the  property  from  the 
representative  of  the  Crown. 

The  flats  along  the  river  belonging  to  Scotia — the  estate,  not 
the  present  village — were  free  from  timber  and  very  fertile,  for 
they  had  been  cultivated  by  the  Mohawk  Indians  for  more  years 


Glen-Sanders. 


'59 


lham   Glen   House,   'Built  in   1730,   now   the   Residence  of  Mr.  James   Collins 


than  their  traditions  could  number.  The  flats  east  of  the  residence 
down  to  a  point  near  the  present  Freemans  bridge,  were  known 
as  the  "cornfield,"  and  were  so  designated  in  the  deed  from  the 
Indians  to  Mr.  Glen. 

Mr.  Glen's  character  appealed  strongly  to  the  Mohawks. 
They  regarded  him  with  respect  and  admiration,  for,  while  he  was 
kind  and  just,  he  was  fearless — a  quality  which  the  Mohawks 
could  understand  much  better  than  kindness— so  whenever  raids 
were  made  upon  the  white  settlers,  he,  his  family  and  his  property, 
were  exempt  from  their  ferocity.  He  had  also  gained  the  admira- 
tion and  even  affection  of  the  French  who  held  Canada,  by  his 
many  acts  of  kindness  toward  them,  when  captured  by  the  hostile 
Mohawks  of  the  valley,  who  were  not  of  the  portion  of  the  tribe 
which  had  left  the  Mohawk  valley  for  Canada,  after  their  con- 
version to  the  Catholic  faith. 

In  Mr.  Glen's  day,  there  was  no  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 


160  Old  Schenectady. 

nor  any  church  nearer  than  Albany,  but  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schatts 
went  from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  once  in  three  months,  to 
administer  the  sacraments.  This  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Glen's  ideas 
of  duty  in  the  matter  of  attending  worship,  for  he  frequently 
made  the  journey  to  Albany,  leaving  his  home  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing- and  returning  on  Monday  night.  In  1682,  in  order  that 
Schenectady  might  be  better  provided  for,  he  built,  at  his  own 
expense,  the  first  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  Schenectady — the 
site  of  which  is  marked  by  a  bronze  tablet  at  the  junction  of  State, 
Water  and  Church  streets  and  Mill  lane.  As  was  the  custom  in 
those  days,  the  church  was,  also,  the  town-hall.  This  church  was 
given  to  the  community  and,  in  1684,  the  Rev.  Petrus  Tasche- 
maker  became  its  first  pastor.  Mrs.  Glen  died  in  1684  and  Mr. 
Glen,  in  1685,  and  both  were  buried  under  the  church  which  he 
had  built.  As  an  original  proprietor,  Mr.  Glen  had  a  lot  in 
Schenectady  of  two  hundred  feet  frontage  on  Washington  avenue 
and  this  residence  was  occupied  by  a  descendant  till  the  great  fire 
of  1 8 19,  when  it  was  destroyed. 

Major  John  Alexander  Glen,  the  youngest  son  of  the  origi- 
nal proprietor,  built  the  present  mansion,  bearing  the  date  of 
1713.  The  house  covers  a  large  ground  area  and  its  rooms  are 
large — many  of  them  being  more  than  twenty  feet,  each  way, 
and  the  ceilings  are  lofty.  The  walls  are  built  of  stone  and  are 
very  thick  and  strong.  The  timbers  are  massive.  Some  idea  of 
the  great  size  of  the  trees,  which  were  found  by  the  early  white 
settlers,  may  be  gained  when  it  is  known  that  the  trunks  of  the 
trees,  from  which  the  timbers  for  the  house  were  made,  were 
first  hewn  square  and  then  sawed  twice  through  the  middle, 
lengthwise,  thus  making  four  timbers  of  the  log,  each  of  which 
was  two  feet  square.  The  hewing  was  done  because  it  was  easier 
than  sawing,  when  the  log  was  of  so  great  diameter;  and  the 
sawing  was  resorted  to,  because  it  was  the  only  means  of  dividing 
the  square  log  into  timbers  small  enough  to  handle.  These  great 
timbers  are  as  sound,  to-day,  as  they  were  when  they  were  built 
into  the  house.     They   are  cleverly   dovetailed   together,   as  no 


Glen-Sanders.  1 6 1 

builder  could  do  it  in  this  century,  and  are  fastened  with  large 
pins  of  wood.  All  of  the  spikes  and  nails  in  the  house  are  hand- 
wrought. 

As  has  been  said,  nearly  all  of  the  original  material  of  the 
first  house  was  used  for  the  present  house  and  all  of  the  interior 
wood-work  was  used,  as  far  as  it  would  go.  This  interior  finish 
is  very  interesting,  in  that  it  shows  the  nicety  of  the  work  and  the 
skill  of  the  workmen.  Every  joint  is  either  mortised  or  dove- 
tailed, and  all  the  fastenings  are  wooden  pins.  The  doors  are 
very  wide  and  their  broad  panels  are  made  of  one  piece  of  first- 
growth  pine,  of  a  quality  which  would  give  a  lumber-merchant,  of 
to-day,  an  attack  of  heart-failure,  from  thinking  of  the  price  that 
he  could  obtain  for  it. 

Major  Glen,  like  his  predecessors,  was  a  man  who  never 
missed  an  opportunity  to  save  a  white  captive  from  the  cruel 
hands  of  the  Mohawks.  It  made  no  difference  to  him  whether 
the  victim  for  the  burning  was  Protestant  or  Catholic.  This 
gained  for  him  and  his  wife — she  was  a  veritable  "Mother  in 
Israel,"  honored  and  loved  by  White  and  Red — the  profound 
regard  of  the  French  in  Canada,  whom  the  Mohawks  of  the  valley 
dearly  loved  to  capture  and  torture,  as  a  means  of  revenge  for 
having  led  away  a  portion  of  their  tribe. 

The  Jesuit  priests  were  untiring  workers  among  the  Indians 
for  their  conversion.  Their  patience  and  never-waning  courage, 
under  the  most  cruel  torture,  finally  won  the  portion  of  the  tribe 
of  the  Mohawks,  whose  headquarters  were  at  the  third  castle  of  the 
Five  Nations,  called  Caughnawaga.  They  embraced  the  Catholic 
faith  and  went  to  Canada  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  settling  near 
Montreal.  This  greatly  angered  the  Mohawks  who  remained  in 
the  valley.  They  professed  to  favor  Protestantism,  not  from 
religious  conviction,  but  because  it  was  the  faith  of  the  Dutch 
with  whom  they  were  friendly.  Their  reason  for  being  friendly 
with  the  Dutch  was  entirelv  selfish  at  first.  The  Dutch  could 
cater  to  their  appetite  for  rum,  but,  most  important  of  all,  was 
the  fact,  that  from  them,  they,  the  Indians,  could  obtain  the  more 


1 62  Old  Schenectady. 

destructive  weapons  and  ammunition  and  wipe  out  a  humiliating- 
defeat  by  the  Hurons  and  AlgonqUins,  soon  after  Champlain's 
settlement  in  1608.  That  they,  the  irrisistible  ones,  whose 
presence  in  twos  and  threes  inspired  terror  among  the  Indians 
of  New  England  and  the  south,  had  been  defeated  and  forced  to 
flee  from  the  Canadian  Indians,  whom  they  held  in  contempt,  was 
more  than  they  could  bear.  Since  the  Dutch  could  provide  them 
with  muskets  and  ammunition,  they  loved  the  Dutch.  This  defeat 
by  the  despised  Indians  of  the  tribes  named,  was  due  to  the  fire- 
arms furnished  them  by  the  French.. 

One  day  a  party  of  Mohawks  brought  as  a  prisoner,  a  Jesuit 
priest,  to  the  home  of  Major  Glen,  where  they  intended  to  torture 
him,  on  the  knoll  previously  mentioned  as  the  torture-ground. 
They  asked  Major  Glen  to  lock  the  priest  in  his  cellar  till  the 
morning,  when  the  deviltry  would  begin. 

Major  Glen  and  bis  wife  determined  to  save  the  priest,  but 
they  realized  that  it  must  be  done  without  offending  the  Indians, 
otherwise,  they  would  lose  their  influence  with  them.  He  pre- 
tended to  fear  the  priest,  saying  that  they  all  were  possessed  of 
magical  powers  and  could  not  be  confined  by  any  lock.  He  told 
the  Indians  that  they  could  lock  him  in  the  cellar,  but  that  he 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  so  he  gave  them  one  key  to  the 
cellar  and  said  nothing  of  the  other,  which  he  had.  The  Indians, 
profiting  by  the  trade  instincts  of  their  Dutch  friends,  bought 
rum  in  Schenectady  and  drank  themselves  into  insensibility. 

Major  Glen  had  remarked  in  the  hearing  of  the  Indians  that 
he  should  send  a  wagon  to  Albany  in  the  morning,  for  salt ;  so, 
when  the  morning  came  and  the  Indians,  who  were  suffering  from 
an  attack  of,  "after  the  ball,"  saw  a  wagon,  in  which  was  a  large 
cask,  start  for  Albany,  their  suspicions  were  not  aroused.  Had 
they  known  that  the  cask,  with  but  one  head,  was  covering  the 
priest,  they  might  have  claimed  a  substitute  from  the  Glen  family. 
When  they  did  go  to  him  with  a  report  that  the  priest  was  gone  ; 
they  were  reminded  that  they  had  been  told  that  a  priest  could  not 
be  kept  by  any  lock  ;  that  he  had  used  his  magic  to  escape  through 


Glen-Sanders.  [63 

the  key-hole.  This,  and  similar  acts,  gained  the  good-will  and 
esteem  of  the  French — the  more  so,  as  the  ('dens  were  known  to 
be  staunch  Protestants — and  bore  fruit  of  a  most  acceptable 
variety;  for,  when  the  French  and  Indian  raid  was  made,  which 
resulted  in  the  historical  massacre  of  1690,  orders  were  given,  by 
the  French  commanders,  that  no  injury  must  be  done  to  the  Glens, 
their  relatives  nor  their  property.  Not  only  were  these  orders 
strictly  adhered  to,  but  Major  Glen  was  permitted  to  point  out 
relatives  in  Schenectady,  who  were  spared,  until  so  many  had 
been  pointed  out,  that  the  Indians  became  suspicious  that  even 
a  white  man  could  not  have  so  many  relatives,  and  so  the  merciful 
work  was  stopped. 

Col.  Jacob  Glen,  the  eighth  child  of  Major  Glen,  inherited 
the  Scotia  estate  from  his  father,  as  well  as  all  the  admirable 
qualities  of  the  family.  He  was  born  in  1690  and  died  in  [762. 
Colonel  Glen  was  commander  of  the  military  forces  west  of 
Albany,  numbering'  3,000  men. 

It  was  during  his  proprietorship  that  the  Scotia  mansion 
began  to  be  the  receptacle  of  public  documents,  for  their  safe- 
keeping. This  old  mansion  contained  the  military  records  of  the 
Colony,  with  a  complete  list  of  the  men  doing  military  duty  ;  old 
Dutch  and  British  grants,  patents,  and  commissions,  among  them 
being  those  which  bore  the  signature  of  every  governor  from  and 
including  Governor  Dongan  ;  and  later,  all  the  public  documents 
and  letters  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  was  Indian  Commis- 
sioner for  the  entire  British  possessions  in  America.  Among 
these,  were  treaties  signed  by  the  totem  and  other  marks  of  Indian 
chiefs  of  man}-  tribes  and  the  signatures  of  the  governors  of 
nearly  every  Colony.  This  valuable  collection  also  contained  pub- 
lic documents  of  the  Revolutionary  days,  and  letters,  commissions, 
private  diaries,  kept  by  the  officers,  and  the  minutes  of  the  Sons 
of  Liberty. 

Soon  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  when  paper 
was  in  unusual  demand,  about  a  ton  of  these  old  papers  were  sold, 
as  junk,  their  historic  value  not  being  appreciated.     Fortunately, 


Glen-Sanders.  165 

few  of  the  very  old  Dutch  and  British  papers  were  included  in 
this  lot,  so  that  a  large  collection  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  family,  till  1903,  when  all  that  did  not  relate  to  the  Glen- 
Sanders  families  and  those  with  whom  they  had  inter-married, 
were  sold  by  the  present  owner  of  the  property. 

The  present  proprietor.  Air.  C.  P.  Sanders,  decided  upon  this 
course,  for  several  reasons.  One  was  that  the  documents  had  to 
do  with  so  many  of  the  old  Dutch  and  Anglo-Saxon  families,  that 
he  was  receiving  requests  from  all  over  the  country  from  persons 
who  were,  or  hoped  they  were,  descendants  of  the  early  settlers, 
asking  him  to  look  the  matter  up.  This  was  a  nuisance ;  and, 
hesides,  the  collection  being  of  public  interest,  he  felt  it  should  be 
placed  where  it  could  be  cared  for  and  be  open  to  inspection  by 
those  who  wished  to  inspect  it.  In  addition  to  this,  many  persons 
came  to  Scotia  to  see  the  famous  old  mansion,  and  he  frequently 
found  that,  after  these  visitations,  some  of  the  papers  would  be 
missing.  As  the  State  was  the  proper  custodian  of  these  docu- 
ments of  Colonial  and  Revolutionary  days,  they  were  first  offered 
to  the  State  Library  in  Albany,  but  as  there  was  no  money 
available,  the  library  could  not  secure  them.  They  were  then 
offered  to  the  city  of  Schenectady,  through  some  of  its  citizens, 
who  professed  to  be  interested  in  it  and  its  history  and  who  con- 
sidered themselves  public-spirited  men ;  but  the  idea  was  treated 
lightly,  until  they  were  finally  disposed  of  to  an  antiquarian  of 
Albany,  when  the  fact  that  they  were  gone  forever,  emphasized 
the  seriousness  of  the  loss.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  collection  of 
old  records  and  documents,  relating  to  families  and  official  affairs 
of  the  Colony  and  State,  should  be  the 
property  of  Schenectady  and  the  histori- 
cal-room of  the  free 
Public  Library  should 
be  their  place  of  safe- 
keeping. 

To  return  to  Colo- 
nel    Glen ;     his     only 

Old   Cradle   in   the   Sander:   Mansion.  child    WaS    a    daughter, 


1 66 


Old  Schenectady. 


Deborah,  who  was  married  to  John  Sanders,  of  Albany,  in  1739. 
It  was  through  this  marriage  that  the  Sanders  name  became  con- 
nected with  the  Glen  estate  of  Scotia.  Mr.  Sanders,  who  was  a 
man  of  great  wealth  for  even  these  days,  purchased  the  entire 
estate  in  1765,  for  $10,000,  which,  in  those  days,  was  a  very  large 
amount  of  money. 

Strangely  enough,  the  Sanders  family,  like  the  Glen  family, 
was  Dutch,  by  adoption,  members  of  it  having  fled  to  Holland  at 
about  the  same  time  that  the  Glens  did,  and  for  the  same  reason, 
because  of  their  fearless  opposition  to  the  corruption  of  the  British 
representatives  of  the  Roman  Church.  This  ancestor,  whose 
family  was  forced  to  flee  to  Holland,  was  burned  at  the  stake,  in 
Coventry,  by  the  gentlemen  of  England  who  dishonored  their 
country  and  polluted  the  name  of  the  Roman  Church,  solely  to 
gain  their  own  selfish  ends,  as  represented  either  by  money,  pre- 
ferment or  power. 


lE.MOR}    0/ 
/v  Rc\  Mr  Lawrence  S.u  aimcrs  .  //  / 
'•  tiUwUows^Bread  Sl/rel.  Who 
-  nimns  h<-iv  Preached, in  delenee 

>f  iih'J)()cliiii(\soJ*llK'Htlon!i,iuoiioi  llio 
"liiur'li  orfji^iatid  from  v    oorrupfi, 
of  Spine.  Sullen  . :  Hm\  1 

• 


Sanders   Tablet  in  Allhalhvjs  Church,   London. 


Glen-Sanders.  167 

The  tablet  in  the  wall  of  the  church  in  London  of  which  this 
hero-martyr,  the  friend  and  companion,  in  prison,  of  the  great 
Cranmer,  was  rector,  hears  the  following  record:  "In  Memory 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lawrence  Saunders.  M.  A.,  Rector  of  Allhallows, 
Bread  street,  who,  for  sermons  here  preached,  in  defence  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England  from 
ye  corruptions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  suffered  Martyrdom  ye 
third  year  of  Queen  Alary,  being  burnt  at  Coventry,  Feb'y  ye  8, 

'555-" 

Lawrence  Sanders — or  Saunders,  as  the  original  spelling 
was — was  born  in  Oxfordshire,  where  his  father  was  a  con- 
siderable land-owner.  Young  Lawrence  was  sent  to  Eaton,  and, 
after  finishing  there,  to  King's  College,  Cambridge.  After  a 
while,  he  thought  he  would  like  to  become  a  merchant ;  so  he  was 
sent  to  London  and  articled  to  one  of  the  great  merchants,  who, 
afterward,  became  Sheriff  of  London.  The  youth  soon  became 
disgusted  with  business  and  all  that  had  to  do  with  it.  He  told 
his  patron  of  his  feelings,  and  he  released  him  from  his  obliga- 
tions, so  Lawrence  returned  to  King's  College  and  took  his  de- 
gree. He  entered  holy  orders  toward  the  end  of  the  reign  t>i 
Edward  VI.  and  became  one  of  the  famous  preachers  of  the 
period  when  the  Reformation  began.  While  fearless  in  denounc- 
ing the  corruption  of  the  men  who  professed  to  represent  the 
pure  principles  of  the  ancient  Christian  Church,  he  was  not  of 
that  class  of  preachers  who  disgust  the  thoughtful  by  violence  and 
religious  hysteria. 

As  one  of  the  chief  champions  of  reformation,  with  Cranmer 
and  the  other  heroic  men,  who  bore  the  agonies  of  fire,  rather  than 
do  what  they  believed  to  be  wrong,  Lawrence  Saunders  was 
summoned  before  the  ecclesiastical  and  crown-authorities,  on 
trumped-up  and  ridiculous  charges.  When  it  was  found  that  he 
fearlessly  continued  his  work  and  preached  for  reformation,  he 
was  imprisoned  and  was  finally  burnt,  in  Coventry.  The  widow 
and  her  two  sons  escaped  to  Holland.  Ninety  years  after,  another 
widow,  Elsie  Saunders,  and  her  two  sons,  Robert  and  John,  came 


1 68 


Old  Schenectady. 


to   New  Amsterdam,  about    1646.     It  was  the   son,   John,   who 
married  Deborah,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Glen. 

The  brothers  went  to  Albany  and  started,  by  trading  with 
the  Indians,  from  whom  they  bought  pelts.  These  were  shipped 
to  Europe  and,  in  return,  were  brought  back  from  across  the 
water,  the  goods  which  were  needed,  or  which  were  luxuries  in 
the  colony.  Their  business  grew  to  immense  proportions  and, 
before  long,  their  shipments  went  to  nearly  all  the  great  capitals 
of  the  world,  especially  to  the  Indies. 

John,  son  of  John  and  Deborah  Sanders,  lived  in  the  Scotia 
mansion — his  father  and  mother  having  moved  to  the  town  resi- 
dence on  Washington  avenue.     The   Indians   had   always  been 

free  guests  at  the 
homes  in  the  Mo- 
hawk valley,  and 
especially  was  this 
true  in  regard  to 
the  home  of  the 
Glens  and  San- 
ders. About  the 
time  the  War 
of  Independence 
began,  the  Oneida 
Indians  were  par- 
ticulafrly-frequent 
visitors  in  and 
about  the  Scotia 
estate,  and  this 
fact  nearly  caused 
the  death  of 
young  Mrs.  San- 
ders, when  two 
Oneida  warriors 
engaged  in  a  seri- 

■:hich  Mrs.    Sanders  was  going  when   the   Tomahavjk  OUS    flU3.rrel    ill    the 

was  thrown.  ^ 


f          i 

'  tfl           Be 

~~W            III  m 

^^Bi                BF  JSSk 

■BVBVj 

1     !-  J 

Glen-Sanders.  169 

kitchen.  Finally,  one  of  the  two  tried  to  brain  the  other 
with  his  tomahawk.  The  attacked  one  fled  out  and  around  to  the 
front  of  the  house  and  inside  the  door.  Behind  this  door  was — 
and  still  is — a  large,  shallow  coat-closet.  The  fleeing  Indian 
hid  in  this  closet,  just  as  his  pursuer  reached  the  front  of  the 
house  and  just  as  Mrs.  Sanders  was  going  up-stairs.  The  pur- 
suing Indian,  seeing  some  one  on  the  stairs,  and  thinking  it  was 
the  other  Indian,  threw  his  tomahawk,  which  was  somewhat  wide 
of  its  mark,  and  struck  the  baluster-rail,  cutting  out  a  chunk 
which  is  still  plainly  to  be  seen,  and  is  a  daily  reminder,  to  the 
present  generation,  of  the  conditions  in  which  their  ancestors 
lived. 

In  those  early  days,  the  freighting  in  the  winter,  when  the 
ice  on  the  river  closed  navigation,  was  done  on  sleds  drawn  by 
horses,  between  Albany  and  Utica.  The  number  of  these  sleds 
ran  into  scores,  daily  passing  to  and  from  Albany. 

One  day  Mr.  Sanders — the  second  John,  whose  wife  escaped 
the  tomahawk — while  out  driving,  met  a  long  line  of  sleds.  He 
turned  out  of  the  beaten  track,  to  let  the  heavily-loaded  sleds  pass. 
Toward  the  end  of  the  line  was  a  driver,  who  was  a  great  bully 
and,  at  the  same  time,  a  coward.  As  he  passed  Mr.  Sanders,  he 
struck  him  a  heavy  blow  across  the  shoulder  with  the  long  lash 
of  his  whip.  When  the  line  passed,  Mr.  Sanders  turned  and 
followed  it,  till  it  stopped  at  the  first  tavern.  He  entered  the  bar- 
room with  the  crowd  and,  gaining  their  attention,  told  them  that 
one  of  their  number  had  committed  an  unprovoked  assault  upon 
him — a  peaceful  citizen,  on  the  highway — a  condition  of  affairs 
which  could  not  be  permitted.  He  demanded  that  the  guilty  man 
be  pointed  out  to  him.     No  one  responded,  so  Mr.  Sanders  said : 

"I  am  a  magistrate  of  this  district;  one  of  you  has  com- 
mitted an  assault  upon  the  highway,  and  if  he  is  not  delivered  up 
to  me,  I  shall  commit  you  all.  Mr.  Sanders  was  well  known  to 
the  majority  of  the  drivers  and  the  reputation  of  himself  and  his 
family  for  doing  just  what  they  said  they  would  do,  resulted  in 
the  offender  being  persuaded  to    step    out    and    confess.      Mr. 


I/O  Old  Schenectady. 

Sanders  looked  at  the  bully  calmly,  told  him  that  such  doings 
could  not  and  would  not  be  permitted  within  his  jurisdiction; 
that  he  purposed  ,to  have  all  travelers  on  the  highway,  within  his 
jurisdiction,  safe  from  bullies  and  brutes. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "you  may  have  your  choice  of  being  tried, 
right  here,  or  of  taking  a  thrashing  at  my  hands.  This  kind  of 
sport  must  be  stopped." 

The  driver  thought  a  moment ;  recalled  the  load  of  freight 
which  could  not  be  delivered,  should  he  be  placed  in  "goal"  and, 
not  knowing  Mr.  Sanders  nor  his  reputation  for  great  strength, 
he  chose  the  thrashing.  Tradition  says  that  he  got  it ;  so  warm 
and  heartily  did  the  justice  lay  it  on,  that  the  fame  of  it  traveled 
far,  and,  from  that  time  on,  when  would-be  tough  drivers  had  to 
pass  through  Mr.  Sanders'  judicial  territory,  they  metaphorically, 
wore  their  Sunday-clothes  and  a  high-church  expression  of 
countenance. 

Nearly  all  of  the  old  Dutch  families  of  Colonial  days  married 
into  the  Glen  and  Sanders  families ;  so  that,  to-day,  the  Living- 
stons. Van  Rensselaers,  Ten  Broecks,  Douws,  Fondas,  Beek- 
manns,  Schuylers,  Ten  Eycks,  Van  Dycks,  can  trace  descent  from 
Alexander  Ljndsey  Glen,  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
Schenectady,  and  the  founder  of  the  family  in  America. 


Ornate  Fire  Bellovis  in  Sanders  Mansion 


Chapter  XI. 


JAMES  DUANE 

HE  Schenectady  County  family  having  more  to  do 
r¥l  with  the  making  of  the  Nation,  than  any  other,  was 
that  of  Duane.  What  the  Glens  had  been  to  the 
Colony,  the  Duanes  were  to  the  birth  of  the  Nation 
and  the  reorganized  State  of  New  York. 
The  first  of  the  name  in  America  was  Anthony  Duane, 
a  young  mar.  of  gentle  birth  from  Cong,  County  Gal- 
way,  Ireland.  When  little  more  than  a  youth,  Anthony 
Duane  was  purser  in  the  British  Navy,  with  the 
squadron  stationed  at  New  York.  He  was  so  well  pleased  with 
the  New  World  Colony  and  the  society  of  New  York,  as  well  as 
with  its  opportunities  for  business,  that  he  resigned  from  the 
Navy  and  settled  in  New  York  where  he  was  a  merchant  up  to 
the  time  of  his  death.  Anthony  Duane's  second  wife — the  mother 
of  the  Schenectady  Duanes — was  Miss  Altea  Kettletas,  a  daughter 
of  Abraham  Kettletas,  for  many  years  an  alderman  of  New  York 
and  one  of  its  wealthiest  merchants.  She  died  in  May,  1741.  Mr. 
Duane  married  again,  his  third  wife  being  the  widow  of  Thomas 
Lynch,  of  Flushing,  Long  Island.  Her  maiden  name  was  Riker. 
Anthony  Duane  died  in  August,  1774,  in  his  home  in  New  York. 
The  children  of  Anthony  and  Altea  Duane  were:  Richard,  who 
died,  while  a  midshipman  in  the  Royal  Navy,  at  Kingston,  Jamaica, 
in  1740;  Abraham,  a  post  captain  in  the  Royal  Navy,  who  died 
at  sea  in  1767;  and  James,  with  whom  there  is  the  greatest 
interest  as  he  was  the  proprietor  of  Duanesburg,  in  Schenectady 
County. 

James  Duane  was  born  in  New  York  City,  on  February  6, 
1732.  After  completing  his  school  days  he  continued  his  educa- 
tion by  studying  for  the  profession  in  which  he  became  the  head 


172 


Old  Schenectady. 


in  middle  life  and  continued  to  grow  in  repute  and  fame  till  his 
death.  He  entered  the  law  office  of  James  Alexander,  one  of  the 
Colony's  most  notable  attorneys,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
August,   1754.     His  biographer  said  of  him:  "His  law  register 

and  papers  show  he  was 
soon  entrusted  with  a 
large  professional  busi- 
ness and  that  he  retained 
his  clients  so  long  as  he 
continued  a  practicing 
lawyer."  Two  years  after 
his  admission  he  was 
given  a  warrant,  by 
Attorney  General  Wil- 
liam Kemp,  to  act  for 
him  in  crown  cases.  Mr. 
Duane's  ideas  and  ambi- 
tion were  beyond  official 
patronage,  so  in  April, 
1757,  he  resigned,  to  de- 
vote all  his  time  to  pri- 

Judge  James  Duane.  VatC  practice. 

He  married  Alary,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  Robert 
Livingston,  of  Livingston  Manor,  on  October  21,  1759.  This 
alliance  gave  him  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  chief  subject 
of  interest  at  that  time,  viz. :  the  boundaries  of  the  Colony,  a 
subject  frequently  in  litigation  and  of  almost  daily  discussion. 
Sometime  before  his  marriage  he  had  been  active  in  respect  to 
the  boundary  between  Xew  York  and  Massachusetts  and  his 
marriage  increased  his  interest  in  the  subject,  because  a  consider- 
able portion  of  Livingston  Manor  was  claimed  by  Massachusetts. 
Thus,  he  became  an  authority  on  the  subject  of  jurisdiction  and 
territorial  rights.  He  was  for  years  always  the  attorney,  council 
or  commissioner  in  private  and  public  cases,  for  the  Colony  and 
later  for  the  State  of  New  York,  against  claimants  in  New  Jersey, 


James  Duane.  173 

Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  the  famous  fights  over  the  New 
Hampshire  grants,  also  the  French  grants  in  the  Champlain 
valley.  His  "State  of  the  Rights  of  New  York"  was  taken  from 
a  letter  from  himself  to  Edmond  Burke,  by  order  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  and  published,  as  being  an  epitome  of  the  subject.  His 
calm  judgment  and  wisdom  did  much  to  off-set  the  influence  of 
the  other  New  England  States  against  New  York,  in  the  fight 
over  the  New  Hampshire  grants,  which  was  thrashed  out  in 
Congress  during  the  Revolution.  He  also  succeeded  in  restrain- 
ing New  York  from  resorting  to  violence  when  the  irritating 
conditions  made  violence  seem  the  only  method  for  vindication. 

Some  of  the  cases  in  which  he  was  retained,  that  were  of 
general  interest,  on  account  of  the  principle  involved,  were : 
Trinity  Church  against  Flandreau  and  others ;  Sir  James  Jay 
against  King's  College ;  the  very  important  case,  to  Schenectady, 
of  Schermerhorn  against  the  Trustees  of  Schenectady ;  the  King, 
on  the  information  of  the  Attorney  General  against  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Colden.  Mr.  Duane  was  attorney  for  the  defendent, 
Colden,  and  it  required  real  courage  of  the  highest  moral  type 
for,  while  the  King  was  the  technical,  Governor  Monkton  was 
the  actual  plaintiff  and,  as  Chancellor,  he  was  also  the  judge. 
Other  lawyers  had  refused  to  take  the  case  for  fear  of  Monkton's 
enmity.  Strangely  enough  not  long  after  this  suit,  Mr.  Duane 
was  called  upon  to  give  an  opinion  against  his  former  client, 
Lieutenant-Governor  Colden.  It  was  in  a  suit  in  which  Colden, 
representing  the  Government,  had  given  a  construction  of  his 
commission  and  instructions,  which  were  reversed  by  the  opinion 
given  by  Mr.  Duane.  To  again  quote  his  biographer:  "In  both 
cases  we  see  that  fearlessness  of  governmental  authority,  which, 
a  few  years  later,  led  him  to  risk  his  life  and  estate  in  our  War 
for  Independence." 

As  a  Churchman,  Mr.  Duane  was  as  active  as  he  was  in  the 
practice  of  law  and  in  the  making  of  the  Nation.  He  was  a 
vestryman  of  old  Trinity  Church  in  New  York  for  a  number 
of  years  before  the  Revolution  and  after  the  British  left  New 


•74 


Old  Schenectady. 


York  in  17&3,  till  he  left  the  city  to  reside  upon  his  estate  of 
Duanesburg,  in  1794.  he  was  church  warden  of  Trinity.  He  built 
at  his  own  expense  the  Episcopal  Church  on  his  Duanesburg 
property,  which  was  consecrated  by  Bishop  Provost,  formerly 
rector  of  Trinity  Church.     This  church,  which  is  still  the  parish 


r 

r&ef   M 

3u 

^JR 

IffJBf^^te-.,-    .->*7- .~ 

y 

■ 

is  V 

# 

ni ! 

> 

L 

, 

*»>i 

=^ 

Christ's   Episcopal   Church,   Duanesburg.       "Built  by  Judge   Duane  in    17V4. 

church,  is  the  only  church  building  in  Schenectady  County  which 
has  in  no  way  been  altered  since  the  day  it  was  built.  Although 
the  building  is  not  as  old  as  is  St.  George's  in  Schenectady  city, 
the  parish  is  considerably  older  and  the  building  was  consecrated 
sixty-six  years  before  St.  George's,  the  consecration  of  the  latter 
being  in  1859.  ^r-  Duane  and  his  wife  are  buried  under  the 
church  which  he  built  and  gave  to  the  Diocese. 

As  a  landlord,  Mr.  Duane  had  vast  possessions.     In  1767  he 
owned  sixty-four  thousand  acres  in  that  part  of  the  Colony  of 


James  Duane,  175 

New  York  which  later  became  a  part  of  the  State  of  Vermont. 
This  property  was  obtained  by  purchase,  not  by  grant  and  when 
that  part  of  New  York  was  resigned  to  Vermont  he  was  awarded 
but  $30,000  for  the  entire  property  and  that  was  not  paid  till 
after  his  death.  A  part  of  his  inheritance  from  his  father  was 
six  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Schenectady  County.  This  was 
eventually  increased  to  what  is  now  the  Town  of  Duanesburg,  an 
area  of  sixty  thousand  acres.  In  1765  he  began  to  arrange  for  the 
settlement  of  this  vast  estate,  located  in  the  most  picturesque  and 
lovely  part  of  the  county,  among  the  hills  which  continue  into 
the  Helderberg  mountains  and  terminate  in  the  Catskills.  At  this 
time  the  people  of  the  Colony  were  averse  to  settling  in  this  part 
of  the  Colony,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  representations  of  the 
agents  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  were  effecting  settlements 
for  him  elsewhere  and  wished  to  secure  all  the  available  settlers 
for  his  property,  so  Mr.  Duane  secured  sixteen  Pennsylvania 
Germans  who  made  the  first  permanent  settlement  on  the  estate. 
The  estate  was  made  a  township  on  March  13,  1765.  The  land 
was  surveyed  into  farms  of  one  hundred  acres  and  apportioned  to 
the  settlers  on  quit  rent  deeds — one  of  which  is  shown  on  the  fol- 
lowing page,  at  first  with  rents  payable  in  products  of  the  soil  and 
later  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  cents  per  acre.  An  idea  of  Mr.  Duane's 
keen  sense  of  right  and  justice  may  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that 
lie  never  sold  an  improved  farm  to  any  person  other  than  the  man 
who  made  the  improvements. 

These  early  settlers  of  Duanesburg  found  themselves  on  hills 
from  eight  to  fifteen  hundred  feet  elevation,  well  watered  by 
springs  and  brooks  and  covered  by  a  virgin  forest  of  pines  and 
hardwoods  of  great  size,  in  which  roamed  bears,  wolves  and  the 
dreaded  lynx.  When  the  work  of  clearing  was  w^ell  along,  the 
soil  was  found  to  be  fertile  and  the  surface  of  a  peculiar  character. 
On  the  main  hills  were  lower  elevations  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
feet  above  the  general  level,  "hog-backed"  in  shape,  with  their 
tops  almost  level  or  a  gentle,  sloping  grade  to  the  brows,  when 
they  fell  away  sharply.     These  "hog-backs"   run   at   every   con- 


176 


Old  Schenectady. 


OffPJPJ, 


ceivable  angle  to  one  another,  thus  forming  charming  little  valleys 
and  dales  through  which  flowed  tiny  streams  of  spring  water.  It 
was  on  the  tops  of  several  of  the  highest  of  these  little  hills  that 

Mr.  Duane  and 
his  heirs  built 
their  fine  old  Co- 
lonial Mansions. 
That  the  white 
man  was  not 
the  discoverer  of 
their  charms, 
nor  of  the  grand 
scenery. is  shown 
by  evidence  of 
Indian  encamp- 
ments of  some- 
what permanent 
nature,  for  ar- 
rowheads and 
other  Indian  im- 
plements are  fre- 
quently found, 
some  of  the  ar- 
row and  spear 
heads  exhibiting 
most  beautiful 
workmanship. 

In  [796  Judge  Duane  began  the  erection  of  his  mansion  on 
the  top  of  the  highest  of  the  Duanesburg  hills,  but  it  was  finished 
by  his  heirs  as  his  death  occurred  suddenly  from  heart  trouble,  in 
February,  1797.  Besides  the  great  estates  in  Vermont  and 
Duanesburg,  he  owned  valuable  property  in  New  York  City,  con- 
sisting of  houses  and  what  he  called  his  farm,  a  portion  of  which 
is  now  Gramercy  Park,  and  a  house  in  Schenectady  where  his 
family  lived  during  many  of  the  years  in  which  he  was  devoting 
himself  to  his  country,  while  the  War  for  Independence  was  in 
progress. 


1 
I 


Quit-Claim   Deed. 


James  Duane.  177 

This  brings  up  the  character  in  which  Judge  Duane  was 
greatest ;  that  of  a  disinterested  patriot ;  friend  of  Washington ; 
and  legal  advisor  to  the  young  Nation. 

Again  to  quote  his  biographer :  "When  faithful  and  skilful 
agents  were  sought  for  in  1774,  to  devise  means  to  regain  those 
rights  which  England  had  grossly  infringed,  and  secure  them 
from  future  violation,  Mr.  Duane  was  naturally  one  of  the  earliest 
selected.  He  was  a  member  of  most  of  the  committees  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  raised  to  devise  plans  of  opposing  the  British 
encroachments,  and  when  the  general  Congress  of  1774  was 
determined  upon  and  the  Colonial  Assembly  had  refused  to 
appoint  any  delegate  to  act,  Mr.  Duane  was  elected  by  the  people, 
not  only  of  that  city,  but  of  several  counties.  *  *  *  The 
Massachusetts  members  of  Congress  started  early  from  their 
homes  and  arrived  at  New  York  before  Mr.  Duane  and  his 
colleagues  had  set  out.  *  *  *  in  the  journal  of  John  Adams  it 
is  apparent  that  Mr.  Duane  was  the  most  prominent  man  in  the 
Xew  York  delegation." 

When  he  left  his  home  in  New  York,  on  August  31,  1774,  to 
go  to  the  Congress  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  accompanied  by  a 
great  number  of  people,  who  with  music  and  flags  were  going  to 
the  Broad  street  ferry  to  see  him  off.  Before  leaving  them,  he 
addressed  them  and  it  does  not  require  a  vivid  imagination  to 
picture  the  event  in  the  mind  nor  to  guess  at  the  subject  upon 
which  he  spoke.  He  was  leaving  the  city  of  his  birth  and  the  people 
who  held  him  in  such  high  esteem  and  who  reposed  such  faith  in 
him,  that  they  had  chosen  him  to  represent  them,  in  the  step  to  be 
taken  by  the  Colonists  which  would  result  in  death  and  oblivion,  or 
in  obtaining  a  recognition  of  their  rights  by  the  King.  In  1774  the 
idea  of  total  separation  from  the  Old  Country  was  in  the  minds 
of  few,  if  any.  of  the  Colonists.  He  arrived  in  Philadelphia  on 
the  day  set  for  the  meeting  of  the  Congress.  September  5,  and 
almost  his  first  act  showed  his  keen  sense  of  the  respect  and 
courtesy  due  to  others.  The  State  House  and  Carpenter's  Hall 
had  been  offered  to  the  delegates,     The  latter  was  first  inspected 


178  Old  Schenectady. 

and  a  motion  to  accept  that  hall  was  offered  by  one  of  the  delegates, 
but  Mr.  Duane  objected  to  this  until  the  courtesy  of  first  inspect- 
ing the  State  House  had  been  paid  to  the  Speaker  of  the  Assembly, 
through  whom  the  offer  of  that  building  had  been  made.  That 
which  took  place  on  that  momentous  occasion  is  a  matter  of 
National  history,  the  part  taken  by  Mr.  Duane  only,  concerns  this 
account. 

Mr.  Duane  was  appointed,  with  Mr.  Jay,  as  the  New  York 
representative  to  the  committee* "On  the  Rights  of  the  Colonies." 
This  committee  met  daily  from  the  seventh  to  the  twenty-second 
of  September  and  reported  on  the  latter  date,  the  New  York  dele- 
gation favoring  a  demand  for  the  rights  of  the  Colonies  without 
total  separation  for  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Duane's  preamble  and 
resolutions  were  submitted  and  adopted  in  spirit,  or  in  the  actual 
wording,  by  the  Congress.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  plan 
written  by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  1754  for  united  colonies,  is  in 
the  possessions  of  the  descendants  of  Mr.  Duane. 

Congress  adjourned  in  October.  1774.  to  meet  in  May,  1775. 
Mr.  Duane  returned  to  his  home,  having  paid  all  of  his  expenses 
connected  with  the  Congress  from  his  own  pocket.  In  addition, 
he  was  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  fund  for  the  relief  of  the  people 
of  Boston  and  to  all  of  the  patriotic  public  celebrations  and  enter- 
tainments given  in  New  York  in  1774-75. 

In  April,  1775,  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  Provincial 
Congress  which  met  in  New  York  on  the  twentieth  and  was 
elected  by  this  Congress  to  the  more  important  one  to  meet  in 
Philadelphia  in  May.  After  appointing  Washington  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army  it  had  authorized  the  raising  of;  and  assum- 
ing all  the  powers  of  government.  Congress  adjourned  from 
August  2  to  September  5  and  Mr.  Duane  went  to  Albany  to  be 
present  at  an  Indian  treaty.  On  this  occasion  he  presented  the 
renowned  Mohawk,  Chief  Abraham,  with  a  handsome  tobacco 
box  of  silver  and  an  item  in  his  private  expense  book  shows  that 
£5  was  paid  for  it.  He  returned  to  Congress  on  September  12, 
and  being  called  by  his  native  state  to  assist  in  framing  a  state 


James  Duane.  179 

government,  he  sacrificed  his  personal  desires  and  ambition  to  be 
one  of  those  to  be  present  in  Carpenters'  Hall  on  July  4,  1776,  by 
leaving  Philadelphia  on  May  31,  1776  for  New  York  City.  But 
for  his  strong  sense  of  duty  to  his  State,  he  would  have  been  in 
Philadelphia  on  the  day  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies  was 
declared  and  Schenectady  would  have  had  the  honor  of  the  name 
of  one  of  its  citizens  being  signed  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

Mr.  Duane  took  his  seat  in  the  Provincial  Congress  on  June 
2  and  four  days  later  obtained  leave  of  absence  to  secure  a  home 
for  his  family.  He  did  not  return  to  New  York  till  the  autumn 
of  1783,  when  peace  was  declared,  the  British  taking  the  city 
soon  after  he  left.  In  April,  \yyy,  he  returned  to  the  Congress 
in  Philadelphia  and  remained  there  till  December  of  that  year 
when  he  joined  his  family  at  Livingston  Manor.  In  the  mean- 
time, on  May  13,  1777,  the  Provincial  Congress  gave  him  a  vote 
of  thanks  for  his  long  and  faithful  service.  In  that  same  year  he 
was  one  of  a  committee  of  three  to  arrange  the  articles  of  con- 
federation, already  agreed  to  by  Congress,  and  to  alter  its  phrase- 
ology without  changing  its  spirit.  In  1778  Governor  Clinton  was 
asked  to  appoint  a  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  for  the  Northern 
Department.  The  Governor  gave  the  appointment  to  Mr.  Duane 
on  April  2,  T778.  In  the  summer  of  that  year  he  was  seriously  ill. 
and  although  not  yet  recovered  in  strength,  he  returned  to  his 
congressional  duties  in  Philadelphia  in  November,  as  he  had  been 
reappointed  in  the  October  preceding.  He  remained  in  attendance 
at  Congress  till  September.  1779,  when  he  obtained  leave  of 
absence  to  visit  his  family.  In  the  succeeding  October  he  was 
appointed  one  of  a  committee  of  three  to  collect  evidence  in  the 
matter  of  the  boundary  between  New  York  and  Vermont,  and  in 
the  succeeding  November,  he  was  reappointed  to  Congress  and 
remained  there  till  the  winter  of  1780,  when  he  left  to  attend  to 
the  boundary  dispute.  In  1781  Mr.  Duane  was  twice  the  guest 
of  General  Washington  at  Morristown.  In  January,  1782,  he 
attended  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  Albany  and  took  his 


t8o  Old  Schenectady. 

seat  as  senator,  after  which  he  returned  to  Congress.  In  November, 
1783,  after  ten  years  of  faithful  service,  he  retired  from  his  con- 
gressional duties.  He  was  the  only  New  York  delegate  to  serve 
continuously  in  Congress  from  its.  first  meeting  in  1774,  till  the 
close  of  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Duane  was  the  author  of  the  resolu- 
tions of  thanks  to  the  army,  adopted  by  Congress,  which  had 
fought  for  and  obtained  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies. 

In  the  autumn  of  1783  he  was  elected  by  the  Legislature  one 
of  the  Council  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York  and  on 
November  25  of  that  year,  when  he,  with  the  other  patriots,  re- 
turned to  Xew  York  city,  he  found  the  greater  portion  of  his 
property  in  a  sad  state.  His  houses  on  Pine  street — then  called 
King  street — and  the  house  at  the  corner  of  Fly  Market  and 
Water  street  were  not  habitable.  That  portion  of  New  York 
known  as  Gramercy  Park  was  owned  by  Mr.  Duane  and  the 
twenty  acres  of  which  it  was  a  portion,  he  called  his  farm.  This 
property  and  the  house  upon  it  was  in  good  condition  as  it  had 
been  used  by  one  of  the  British  generals  as  his  residence.  It  was 
at  this  time  that  his  election  as  church  warden  of  Trinity,  already 
referred  to,  took  place. 

There  is  a  tradition  in  King's  book,  "The  Progress  of  New 
York  During  the  Last  Fifty  Years,"  that  a  winding  creek  flowing 
through  the  Duane  farm,  called  by  the  Dutch,  "Crummassie-Yly," 
was  corrupted  by  the  successors  of  the  Dutch  into  Gramercy  and 
that  the  name  was  made  a  fixture  by  S.  B.  Ruggles,  who,  having 
purchased  a  portion  of  the  Duane  farm,  dedicated  to  the  public 
the  sixty-six  lots,  now  comprising  the  park,  in  1831,  giving  it  the 
name  of  Gramercy  Park.  There  was  but  one  provision  attached 
to  the  gift,  viz. :  that  ten  dollars  a  lgt  should  be  paid  annually 
forever,  for  the  maintenance  for  the  park.  Ti  is  also  of  interest, 
that  King  speaks  of  the  value  of  these  sixty-six  lots,  as  being  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

After  the  war  the  residents  of  New  York  began  to  resume 
their  commercial  and  professional  occupations  which  had 
been  interrupted  for  so  many  years.    To  do  this  was  Mr.  Duane's 


lames  Duane.  181 

intention,  but  those  who  knew  him  had  other  plans  for  him  and 
for  their  good.  In  those  days  to  he  mayor  of  New  York  was  a 
high  honor,  for  the  man  was  chosen  for  his  worth  and  integrity. 
The  Common  Council  of  the  city  petitioned  the  Governor  to 
appoint  Mr.  Duane.  The  petition  was  granted  and  he  was 
appointed  on  February  5,  1784.  The  reason  given  in  the  petition 
for  his  selection  was:  "That  no  one  is  better  qualified,  so  none  will 
be  more  acceptable  to  us  and  our  constituents  at  large  than  Mr. 
Duane.  Few  have  sacrificed  more  or  deserve  better  from  their 
country."  This  was  a  busy  office  in  those  days,  for  the  mayor 
presided  over  the  city,  civil  and  criminal  courts  and  was  in  the 
commission  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  the  county.  By  request  of 
Judge  Hobart  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Mr.  Duane,  as  judge  of 
( )yer  and  Terminer,  delivered  the  charge  to  the  first  Grand  Jury 
summoned  in  that  court  after  the  war.  Mr.  Duane  was  mavor 
for  six  years ;  with  the  exception  of  two  years  he  was  State 
Senator,  from  1783  to  '90,  when  his  appointment  to  a  Federal 
office  made  longer  service  impossible. 

The  appointment  to  this  Federal  office  was  the  highest  honor 
he  had  yet  received,  for,  while  the  judgeship  of  the  United  States 
District  Court  is  an  important  and  dignified  office,  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Duane  was  chosen  by  President  Washington  personally,  from 
all  the  many  splendid  men  who  were  available,  for  the  reason 
given  by  Washington :  *  *  :|:  "I  have  endeavored  to  bring  into 
high  offices  of  its  administration  such  characters  as  will  give 
stability  and  dignity  to  our  National  Government,"  was  the 
greatest  honor  of  all.  That  Mr.  Duane  fully  appreciated  the 
honor  of  being  chosen  by  Washington  for  this  high  office ;  that  it 
was  an  entire  surprise  to  him  and  gave  him  the  greater  delight  on 
this  account,  is  shown  by  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  to 
his  wife : 

"I  received  a  message  that  Col.  Hamilton  wished  to  speak 
with  me.  He  asked  me  to  walk  in  to  a  private  room  and  there,  to 
my  surprise,  informed  me  that  he  was  sent  by  the  President  to 
know  whether  T  would  accept  the  office  of  District  Judge  of  the 


1 82  Old  Schenectady. 

United  States.  I  told  him  that  I  had  never  solicited,  expected  or 
even  wished  for  an  office  from  the  President.  On  enquiry  from 
Colonel  Hamilton  these  were  the  circumstances  of  the  affair : 
Very  great  interest  had  been  made  for  Chief  Justice  Morris  and 
for  Mr.  Harrison.  When  the  point  was  to  be  decided,  Colonel 
Hamilton  and  Mr.  Jay  were  present.  The  President  observed  that 
he  conceived  a  more  responsible  appointment  than  either  and 
named  me.  Hamilton  and  Jay  declared  themselves  of  the  same 
opinion.  I  have  received  an  invitation  to  dine  with  the  President 
to-morrow  and  shall  then  receive  my  commission,  which  I  owe 
solely  to  his  regard  and  good  opinion  of  me." 

For  five  years  Judge  Duane  continued  as  judge  of  this  court, 
many  of  the  most  important  cases,  involving  international  ques- 
tions, coming  before  him.  Finally,  after  forty  years  of  strenuous 
labor  in  the  interest  of  his  country  and  state,  on  March  10,  1794, 
Judge  Duane  resigned  as  Judge  of  the  United  States  Court,  and 
as  church  warden  of  Trinity.  The  vestry  adopted  resolutions 
expressing  their  feelings  for  him  and  their  regret  at  losing  him. 
This  was  sent  to  him  by  Bishop  Provost,  in  a  personal  letter,  in 
which  the  Bishop  expressed  his  feelings  in  the  matter.  Judge 
Duane  went  to  Schenectady  in  a  few  days  to  remain  there  till  the 
mansion  he  intended  to  erect  on  his  Duanesburg  estate  should  be 
completed,  but  his  death  occurred  before  the  house  was  ready  for 
occupancy. 

As  an  unselfish  patriot,  he  was  regarded  by  Washington 
with  confidence,  affection  and  admiration  and  as  a  statesman  he 
was  honored  by  Washington  and  the  other  great  men  of  that  day. 
As  a  Churchman,  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  in  uniting  all  the 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church  under  one  constitution  and  in 
obtaining  the  consecration  of  the  first  American  Bishop.  While 
he  was  a  staunch  Churchman,  he  was  at  the  same  time  one  of  the 
champions  of  religious  liberty.  He  was  a  generous  giver  to  all 
public  and  private  charities.  A  striking  instance  was  shown  of 
this  characteristic  as  well  as  of  his  wisdom,  when  appointed  Mayor 
of  New  York.     The  city  was  in  a  delapidated  condition  and  its 


James  Duane.  183 

people  were  in  distress  from  the  effects  of  British  occupancy,  so, 
instead  of  giving  the  customary  entertainment  when  entering 
upon  the  duties  of  mayor,  he  sent  a  note  to  the  Common  Council 
saying-:  *  *  *  "But  when  I  reflect  upon  the  want  and  distress 
which  are  so  prevalent  at  this  season,  1  flatter  myself  that  my 
declining  it  (the  entertainment )  will  he  justified  by  your  approba- 
tion.  Rather  permit  me,  gentlemen,  to  entreat  you  to  take  the 
trouble  of  distributing  for  me,  twenty  guineas,  toward  the  relief 
of  my  suffering  fellow  citizens  in  your  respective  wards.  My 
liberality  on  so  laudable  an  occasion,  is  limited  by  the  shock  which 
has  affected  my  private  fortunes  in  the  progress  of  the  war." 
Mayor  Duane's  suggestion  that  the  clergy  of  the  city  should 
preach  charity  sermons  and  take  up  collections  for  the  distressed, 
was  carried  out  and  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  attended 
the  Dutch  Church,  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Livingston,  for 
the  purpose  of  stimulating  the  liberality  of  others  by  their 
presence.  Judge  Duane  was  an  honorary  member  and  on  the 
committee  of  correspondence  of  the  Order  of  Cincinnati.  He 
was  survived  by  his  son,  James  C. ;  his  elder  daughter,  Mary,  who 
married  Gen'l  William  North,  and  his  younger  daughter,  Sarah, 
who  married  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh.  The  oil  portrait  in 
the  City  Hall,  New  York,  is  a  copy  of  the  one  done  by  Peal  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution. 


Chapter  XI I 


FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 

HE  family  of  Featherstonhaugh    is    older    than    the 

T  United  Kingdoms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  for 
it  is  a  Saxon  family  of  the  feudal  days,  away  hack  on 
the  horders  of  dream-time. 

At  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  the  feudal  castle 
and  estate  was  in  Northumberland,  on  the  Tyne.  This 
fine  old  specimen  of  feudal  days  with  its  massive 
tower,  supported  on  great  arches,  stands  to-day  as  it 
was  originally  built,  with  the  additions  by  the  succes- 
sive Featherstonhaughs, 'in  the  centuries  which  followed  the  one 
far  back  in  time  when  the  first  huge  block  of  stone  was  put  in 
place  with  the  exception,  that  the  interior  has  been  refitted  and 
modernized  in  accord  with  the  present  ideas  of  domestic  luxury. 
It  was  here  that  Sir  Albany  Featherstonhaugh  was  slain. 
This  foray  was  mentioned  by  Scott  in  his  "Marmion,"  in  Canto  1. 
The  Castle  XIII,  where, 

"The  northern  harper  rude,  chanted  a  rhyme  of  deadly  feud, 
How  the  fierce  Thirwalls  and  Ridley s  all. 
Stout   Willimondswick, 
And  Hardriding  Dick, 
And  Hugie  of  Hawdon,  and  Will  o'  the  wall 
Have  set  on  Sir  Albany  Featherstonhaugh,^ 
And  taken  his  life  at  the  deadman's-shaw." 
This  foray  in  which  Sir  Albany  was  killed  is  described  at 
greater  length  in  "Border  Minstrelsy." 

The  last  of  the  name  to  occupy  the  castle  was  Sir  Matthew 
Featherstonhaugh.  who  sold  the  estate  to  Lord  Wallace,  in  i745- 
Sir  Matthew  purchased  an  estate  in  Sussex,  which  he  called 
"Uppark".  and  built  on  it  a  fine  baronial  residence.     This  was 


1 8<  >  Old  Schenectady. 

left  to  his  heir,  Sir  Harry,  who  died  childless,  in  1846,  the  estate 
going  to  his  wife.  Sir  Harry  and  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh, 
who  built  the  large  mansion  on  the  shore  of  Featherstonhaugh  lake 
Duanesburg,  beside  being  related,  were  intimately  acquainted, 
Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  being  a  frequent  visitor  at  "Uppark",  when 
he  was  in  England. 

George  William  Featherstonhaugh,  the  founder  of  the 
American  branch  of  the  family,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  of  the  nineteenth  century — in  a  way,  perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  man  of  that  century.  Although  possessed  of  wealth 
which  made  a  life  of  indolent  ease  possible,  his  whole  life  was 
devoted  to  travel  for  pleasure  and  investigation ;  to  the  study  of 
geology  and  exploration  for  the  United  States  Government ;  to 
important  diplomatic  service  for  his  own  country — Great  Britain — 
and  to  the  establishment  of  the  railroad  in  America,  as  a  means 
of  opening  the  vast  territory  of  the  interior  and  of  connecting, 
for  commercial  purposes,  the  great  markets  of  the  country.  That 
he  was  the  discoverer  of  the  possibilities  of  the  railroad  and  the 
actual  founder  of  the  present  vast  railroad  systems  of  this  conti- 
nent and  that  he  worked,  single-handed,  for  fifteen  years  against 
ridicule  and  unbelief,  will  be  shown  later.  Besides  all  this,  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh  was  the  intimate  acquaintance  and  friend  of 
America's  greatest  statesmen — in  the  days  when  statesmen  were 
great  and  not  merely  subtile  politicians — and  the  friend  of  kings. 
Personally,  he  was  a  man  of  great  height,  being  six  feet  two 
inches,  of  powerful  physique,  and  was  possessed  of  a  highly 
cultivated  mind  and  of  a  fine  spirit.  He  was  a  doer  of  things, 
from  his  university  days  to  the  day  of  his  death,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-six. 

Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  born  in  London,  England,  in 
1780,  a  few  months  after  the  death  of  his  father.  Owing  to  the 
unsettled  and  dangerous  conditions  surrounding  residence  in 
London,  because  of  the  Lord  George  Gordon  Riots — which 
Dickens  made  familiar  to  the  English  speaking  world  in  his 
"Barnaby  Rudge" — Airs.  Featherstonhaugh  moved  from  London 


Featherstonhaugh.  187 

to  Scarsboro,  in  Yorkshire,  with  her  children  and  it  was  here  that 
Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  spent  his  youth  and  prepared  for  his 
university  course.  He  received  his  university  degree  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one  and  immediately  thereafter  began  to  indulge  his 
love  for  travel  and  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  He  traveled  in 
Italy,  Switzerland  and  France  for  two  years,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six,  had  so  far  mastered  the-  languages  of  those  countries 
and  of  Spain,  that  he  could  speak  and  write  them  with  the  same 
fluency  as  his  native  English.  He  was,  later,  a  fine  Greek  and 
Latin  scholar  and  could  converse  as  readily  in  Latin  as  in  any 
of  the  modern  languages  that  he  had  mastered.  He  was  also  an 
accomplished  musician. 

In  the  middle  of  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
Bird  of  Freedom  was  doing  a  deal  of  screaming.  The  American 
people  were  beginning  to  lose  some  of  the  dignified  repose  of 
Washington's  day  and  were  beginning  to  take  on  national  airs  and 
graces  and  to  become  proficient  performers  upon  the  horn — all  of 
which  attracted  the  attention  of  Europe  toward  the  lusty  young 
nation. 

In  1806  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  decided  to  visit  the  United 
States  for  pleasure  and  to  study  the  people  and  their  institutions. 
He  brought  with  him  letters  to  many  of  the  more  prominent 
families  and  spent  two  years  in  the  cities  of  the  north  Atlantic 
states.  When  he  left  England  for  America,  he  probably  had  no 
more  idea  that  he  would  fall  in  love  with  and  marry  an  American 
girl,  than  that  he  would,  some  day,  be  king.  He  did  so,  however, 
and  the  meeting  with  his  future  wife  was  of  a  most  romantic 
nature. 

In  1808  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  in  Philadelphia  and  it 
so  happened  that  Madam  Duane,  the  widow  of  Judge  James 
Duane,  of  New  York  City  and  Schenectady,  was  in  the  city  and 
that  her  family  was  with  her.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  saw  one 
day,  a  pair  of  horses,  attached  to  a  private  carriage,  madly  clash- 
ing through  the  street,  uncontrolled  by  their  driver.  The  first 
thought  of  a  young  man  of  his  spirit  and  courage  was  to  stop 


[88 


Old  Schenectady. 


the  horses  and  save  those  inside  the  carriage   from  injury  and 
possible  death.     After  he  had   stopped   the   terrified   horses,   he 

went  to  the  assistance  of  the  occu- 
pants of  the  carriage  and  his  gaze 
had    no    sooner     fallen    upon    the 
beautiful  face  and  dainty  person  of 
Sarah  Duane.  than  he  lost  his  heart, 
and    for    her    mother,    the    stately 
.Madam    Duane,    the    daughter    of 
Robert  Livingston,  he  conceived  the 
most  profound  respect  and  an  ad- 
miration,  which   later  became  mu- 
tual.   ( )n  her  part.  Miss  Duane  saw, 
in     the     tall,     elegant     gentleman, 
whose   courage   had    saved    herself 
and   her   mother,   a   man   who   was 
worthy  of  her  deepest  love. 
The   rather   formal    acquaintance   resulting   from   such   inci- 
dents, in  this  instance,  rapidly  ripened  into  friendship.     A  few 
months  later,  on  November  6,   1808,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  and 
Miss  Duane  were  married  in  St.  George's  Church,  Schenectady,  by 
the  Rev.   Cyrus   Stebbins.     Besides  being  beautiful,   nature  had 
given  her  a  brilliant  intellect  which  had  been  so  highly  cultivated 
that  she  was  reputed  to  be  the  most  accomplished  girl  of  her  age 
in  the  entire  country.     At  the  age  of  but  thirteen,  she  was  wonder- 
fully clever  with  the  paint  brush,  as  may  be  seen  to-day  from 
pictures  from  her  brush  at  that  age — stdl  treasured  by  the  family 
in  the  Duanesburg  mansion.     Especially  fine  are  a  water  color  of 
West  Point,  sketched  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  Hudson,  and 
an  oil,  of  a  hunter  in  the  forest,  painted  from  the  imagination. 
She   was   also   an   accomplished   musician.      Especially   was    she 
mistress  of  the  harp.    With  tastes  and  accomplishments  so  similar, 
it  would  have  been  indeed  a  wonder  had  they  not  loved. 

In  the  spring  after  their  marriage,  1809,  Mr.  Featherston- 
haugh began  to  build  a  mansion  on  the  thousand  acres  willed  to 
his  wife  by  Tudge  Duane,  in  Duanesburg,  which  included  what 


Featherstonhaugh.  189 

was  later  called,  Featherstonhaugh  lake.  This  residence  had  a 
frontage  of  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  on  the  lake  and  was  sixty 
feet  deep.  It  was  in  the  style  of  architecture  to  he  found  on 
gentlemen's  estates  in  England,  and  the  acres  immediately  sur- 
rounding the  mansion  were  laid  out  as  a  park.  The  estate  was 
called  Featherstonhaugh  Park.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  broad 
and  liberal  in  his  ideas  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  was  intensely 
English,  h  was,  therefore,  but  natural  that  his  American  home 
should  be.  in  a  general  way,  as  nearly  like  his  English  home  as 
was  possible. 

He  then  entered  upon  the  most  extensive  practical  and  experi- 
mental farming  operations  of  any  man  of  his  day  in  the  State. 
Houses  were  built  for  his  steward,  or  head  farmer,  and  the  farm 
hands  ;  barns  were  built  for  the  harvested  crops  and  stables  for  the 
horses  and  other  live  stock.  The  live  stock  was  all  thoroughbred 
and  imported  from  England.  Although  busily  occupied  with  the 
administration  of  his  estate  and  the  experimental  operations  of 
the  farm,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  took  time  to  begin  a  correspond- 
ence with  the  best  known  agriculturalists  of  the  day  and  with 
geologists — geology  being  a  subject  of  which  he  was  fond  and 
upon  which  he  was  an  authority.  His  correspondents  lived  in 
Great  Britain,  on  the  Continent  and  in  the  United  States  ;  so  the 
interchange  of  ideas,  theories  and  of  actual  results  was  most 
valuable.  In  addition,  he  began  his  literary  work  which,  later, 
included  many  subjects.  At  this  time,  he  published  two  volumes 
of  agriculture,  based  upon  the  results  of  his  experiments  ;  con- 
tributed, in  prose  and  poetry,  to  the  periodicals  of  the  day  and, 
for  recreation,  translated  Dante's  Inferno. 

Respected,  and  sought  after,  for  his  mental  attainments  by 
his  social  and  intellectual  peers  of  both  Continents ;  after  his 
marriage  with  the  beautiful  and  cultivated  Sarah  Duane,  these 
attractions  were  increased,  and  the  mansion  in  Duanesburg  became 
a  veritable  Mecca  for  the  scientists,  authors  and  statesmen  of 
England  and  America.  Among  his  most  intimate  acquaintances 
and  friends  were — James  Madison,  John  Ouincy  Adams,  Andrew 


190 


Old  Schenectady. 


Jackson,  Daniel  Webster,  John  C.  Calhoon,  John  Jay,  Henry 
Clay,  Lafayette,  Joseph,  King  of  Spain,  and  his  brother  Jerome 
Bonaparte ;  Dr.  Buckland,  dean  of  Westminster  Abbey ;  Sir 
Roderick  Murcherson,  president  of  the  Geological  Society,  of 
London,  and  Sir  John  Sinclair,  of  Edinburgh,  at  that  time  the 
greatest  authority  on  agriculture.  The  most  frequent  of  the 
visitors  at  the  Duanesburg  mansion  was  Henry  Clay. 

There  is,  perhaps,  nothing  that  so  strongly  emphasizes  the 
overpowering  influence  of  commercialism  and  the  greed  for 
dollars  of  the  present  day,  as  the  fact,  that  while  the  people  of 
Schenectady  boast  of  the  prosperity  of  the  city  and  are  more  or 
less  accurately  acquainted  with  the  size  of  the  pay-rolls  of  the 
General  Electric  and  American  Locomotive  Companies,  they  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  men  of  national  prominence  who  lived 
and  visited  in  Schenectady.  The  Yankee  is  as  eager  for  the 
dollar  as  the  New  Yorker ;  but,  while  watching  intently  for  the 
main  chance,  he  keeps  the  tail  of  his  eye  upon  the  splendid  past. 
It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  in  Xew  England  to  see  a  tablet  on  a 
house  front  giving  the  information  that  such  or  such  a  man  was 
a  visitor  there,  or  had  passed  the  night  there.     It  is  doubtful  if 

there  are  fifty  Schenectadians  who 
can  state,  with  accuracy,  where 
Washington  slept  and  dined  upon 
the  occasions  of  his  three  visits  to 
this  city.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
stated  by  a  few  persons  with  author- 
ity, that  Washington  was  the  guest 
of  General  William  North,  with 
Steuben,  Herkimer,  Schuyler  and 
others,  at  his  home  in  Duanesburg ; 
even  the  room  in  which  he  slept  is 
pointed  out,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
Washington  did  nothing  of  the 
kind.     He  did  not  go  to  Duanes- 


Portrait  of  General  George  Washington ,  bUT0" 

Presented  by  him  to  Miss  Dunne.  °' 


Feather stonhaugh.  191 

Mr.  Feather  stonhaugh 's  acquaintance  with  George  Stephen- 
son, the  inventor  of  the  locomotive,  had  aroused  his  interest  in 
the  possibilities  of  steam  railroads ;  and  the  more  he  thought  on 
the  subject,  the  more  was  he  convinced  that  railroads  were  entirely 
practical  and  practicable.  In  181  1,  he  began  to  write  to  friends 
and  acquaintances  to  obtain  their  ideas  on  the  subject  and,  in 
every  instance,  his  faith  in  railroads  was  treated  with  toleration 
or  ridicule  and  always  without  faith.  It  required  more  than 
lack  of  faith  on  the  parts  of  others  to  discourage  him.  His 
eyes  saw  into  the  future  and  his  brain  told  him,  that  to  shorten  the 
distances  between  cities,  by  reducing  the  time  required  in  traveling 
from  one  to  another,  would  be  the  quickest  road  to  commercial 
and  consequently  to  national  greatness. 

In  1 81 2,  he  began  to  write  articles  on  the  subject  for  the 
periodicals  of  the  day.  These  being  more  widely  read  than  his 
letters,  only  served  to  provide  amusement  for  a  greater  number 
of  doubters,  whose  wisdom  told  them  that  to  travel  upon  rails 
by  means  of  steam  at  the  rate  of  from  six  to  ten  miles  an  hour 
was  impossible  and  the  idea,  the  result  of  a  disordered  mind.  He 
was  ridiculed  and  laughed  at  on  the  street — behind  his  back,  how- 
ever— and  had  he  proposed  the  telephone  or  wireless  telegraphy, 
people  could  not  have  thought  him  more  of  a  wild  dreamer  than 
they  did.  One  Schenectady  humorist  remarked  to  some  friends 
on  the  street,  one  day,  just  after  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  had 
passed:  "Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a  wild  idea?  Why,  a  train 
could  not  be  made  to  go  fast  enough  between  this  city  and  Albany 
to  keep  the  mosquitoes  from  eating  the  passengers."  Rut  he  per- 
sisted in  his  faith  and  in  his  efforts  to  convince  some  one  that 
railroads  were  possible.  By  persisting,  he  became  the  father  of 
the  present  railroad  systems  of  North  America  which,  in  T904, 
have  250,000  miles  of  road ;  and  he,  at  the  same  time,  gave  to 
Schenectady  the  honor  of  being  the  place  in  which  the  subject  of 
railroads  was  first  broached.  The  railroad  between  Baltimore  and 
Washington  was  in  operation  a  few  years  earlier  than  was  the 
Mohawk  and  Hudson,  but  neither  road  would  have  been  built 


i<j2  Old  Schenectady. 

when  it  was  built,  had  not  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  been  fighting 
for  them  for  fifteen  years,  alone,  against  the  crudest  weapon 
known  to  mankind — ridicule. 

In  1823  he  had  succeeded  in  convincing  one  man — Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer,  the  last  Patroon — and,  realizing  that  the  public 
could  not  be  depended  upon,  and  that  some  one  must  take  the 
initiative,  on  December  26,  1825,  he  advertised  in  the  Schenectady 
Cabinet,  a  notice  for  application  to  the  Legislature  for  a  rail- 
road charter.  This  notice  was  run  for  six  weeks  and  created  great 
interest  and  excitement.  The  charter  was  granted  on  March  26, 
1826,  and  the  Patroon  and  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  were  the  only 
persons  named  in  the  charter  as  directors,  and  Mr.  Featherston- 
haugh sailed  in  the  fall  with  his  wife  and  young  son,  James,  for 
England,  to  consult  with  Stephenson  in  regard  to  the  motive 
power  for  the  railroad.  They  remained  abroad  for  two  years, 
which  were  spent  in  traveling  all  over  the  Continent  and  in 
England. 

His  work  and  reputation  as  a  geologist  had  preceded  him. 
Upon  his  arrival  in  London,  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Geological  Society  of  London.  Upon  their  return  to  America,  in 
1828,  the  family  went  immediately  to  Duanesburg.  A  spark 
from  the  fire  lighted  in  the  great  fireplace  in  the  hall,  fell  upon 
the  roof  and  the  fine  old  mansion  was  burnt  to  the  ground.  Before 
they  sailed  for  England  in  1826,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh 's  two 
little  daughters  had  died.  This,  with  the  destruction  of  the  home 
so  full  of  memories  connected  with  them,  seemed  to  crush  him. 
He  went  to  New  York  to  reside  and  never  again  saw  his  Duanes- 
burg estate.  The  present  home  of  Robert  C.  Cullings  was  built 
upon  the  wine-cellar  of  the  old  Featherstonhaugh  mansion. 

In  the  June  following  the  removal  to  New  York — the  house 
was  on  the  lower  end  of  Broadway — Mrs.  Featherstonhaugh 
died.  From  this  time  he  devoted  all  his  efforts  to  literature,  travel 
and  exploration.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Philosophical 
Society  and  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Science,  of  Philadelphia 
and  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  of  New  York. 


Featherstonhaugh.  193 

In  1829,  he  translated  the  Republic  of  Cicero  and  lectured 
frequently  on  geology  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  In  1831, 
he  established  and  published  the  first  periodical,  on  geology,  in 
America,  called  "The  Monthly  American  Journal  of  Geology  and 
Natural  Sciences",  and  as  the  result  of  his  work,  he  was  spoken 
of  in  Europe  and  America  as  "The  Father  of  American  Geology." 
In  1833,  he  was  appointed,  by  Congress,  the  first  Government 
Geologist.  The  honor  of  this  appointment  will  be  more  fully 
appreciated  when  it  is  known  that  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  never 
became  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  but  remained  a  subject  of 
the  King  to  the  day  of  his  death ;  and  it  will  be  shown,  later,  that 
his  son,  James,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  was  appointed  by 
Great  Britain  to  represent  that  government,  as  one  of  the  two 
engineers  in  the  north-east  boundary  dispute  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States,  thus  emphasizing  the  confidence  of  two  Nations 
in  the  family.  Some  of  the  best  fossil  specimens  in  the  British 
Museum  were  obtained  by  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  and  given  to 
that  institution  by  him.  In  this  year,  1833,  he  translated  the 
Italian  romance  by  Mauzoni,  "I  Promissi  Sposi,"  famous,  at  that 
time. 

The  following  year  he  began  that  series  of  explorations,  as 
Government  Geologist — the  first  ever  undertaken  by  the  Govern- 
ment— which  resulted  in  the  gathering  of  most  important  in- 
formation regarding  the  history  of  the  Continent,  as  read  in  its 
rocks.  His  first  journey  was  to  Mexico  which  he  reached  on 
horseback  and  in  canoes.  A  great  deal  of  this  vast  territory  bad 
never  before  been  visited  by  white  men.  The  primitive  forest 
was  grand;  the  game  and  wild  animals  were  plentiful,  and 
adventures  frequent.  The  adventures  met  with  would  fill  a 
volume.  After  his  return,  he  published  an  official  account  of  his 
research  and  discoveries  for  the  government,  and  he  married 
Charlotte  Carter,  grand-daughter  of  "King"  Carter — so  called 
on  account  of  his  vast  possessions — of  Shirley  Hall  on  the  James 
river. 

In   1835,  he  made  another  journey  of  exploration  for  the 


194  Old  Schenectady. 

government  on  foot,  on  horseback  and  in  canoes,  to  the  wilderness 
of  the  northwest,  in  Michigan  and  about  the  lakes,  he  being  the 
first  white  man  to  penetrate  that  wild  region.  He  explored  toward 
the  west  to  the  Mississippi  and  went  up  the  Minnay  Sotor  river — 
now  called  St.  Peter's  river — in  canoes.  Numerous  bands  of 
Indians  were  encountered.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh's  great  height 
and  commanding  presence  caused  the  Indians  to  give  him  a 
friendly  reception.  After  he  had  explained  the  purpose  of  his 
presence,  they  gave  him  every  assistance  and  extended  to  him 
their  hospitality,  which  largely  consisted  in  "scalp  dances"  in 
which  he  sometimes  took  part,  for  diplomatic  reasons.  He  also 
attended  their  councils  and  remained  for  some  time  with  them, 
to  learn  their  language.  He  returned  to  civilization,  after  being 
absent  for  a  year,  published  the  report  of  the  expedition  and 
started  for  the  Cherokee  Nation,  in  Georgia,  and  was  there  for  a 
considerable  time,  studying  the  Cherokees,  the  geological  strata 
and  formation  and  natural  history. 

These  exploring  and  geological  trips  were  delightful  to  such 
a  man  as  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh.  The  weeks  and  months  were 
filled  with  adventure  and  intensely  interesting  incident ,  besides 
great  hardships  and  danger  from  wild  beasts  and  Indians ;  so, 
when  he  returned  to  Washington  from  his  sojourn  with  the 
Cherokees,  he  spent  the  succeeding  two  years  quietly,  devoting 
himself  to  literature,  music  and  society.  At  the  end  of  the  two 
years,  in  1839,  he  sailed  for  England,  with  his  family,  with  the 
determination  of  spending  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  his  native 
land  ;  but  the  British  Government  determined  otherwise. 

Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  arrived  in  England  at  the  time  when 
the  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  over 
the  boundary  between  Maine  and  Canada,  was  the  most  bitter. 
I  lis  arrival  at  this  time  seemed  most  opportune;  for  the  govern- 
ment immediately  called  upon  him  for  information  in  regard  to 
the  conditions  in  the  west,  because  of  his  knowledge  of  things 
American.  After  consultation  with  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  the 
government  decided  to  appoint  a  commission  to  adjust  the  dispute 


Featherstonhaugh.  195 

and  settle  the  boundary ;  so  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  by 
his  friend,  the  Earl  of  Durham.  Richard  L.  Mudge,  a  noted 
astronomer,  was  the  other  commissioner.  James  Duane  Feather- 
stonhaugh — the  son  who  was  named  for  his  grandfather,  the 
illustrious  patriot — a  young  man  of  twenty-five  and  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  was  appointed  one  of  the  two  engineers  of 
the  commission  and  its  secretary,  by  the  British  Government ; 
Colonel  Broughton,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  being  the  other. 
Three  months  were  spent  in  equipping  the  expedition,  and  early 
in  1840,  the  Commission  sailed  for  Canada.  In  1844,  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh  returned  to  England  and  made  his  report  and  recom- 
mendations, with  the  result,  that  the  United  States  gained  a  con- 
siderable territory  to  the  northward  of  the  line  claimed  by  Great 
Britain.  The  thanks  of  both  houses  of  Parliament  were  given  to 
Mr.  Feather stonhaugh. 

While  traveling  in  the  south,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  studied 
closely  and  impartially,  the  subject  of  slavery  and  the  conditions 
which  surrounded  it,  and  made  the  purchase  and  sale  of  human 
beings  possible,  only  to  become  disgusted  with  the  whole  sub- 
ject. He  wrote  a  book  reflecting  on  slavery  while  in  the  south, 
in  which  he  made  a  bitter  attack  upon  slavery,  but  he  refrained 
for  obvious  reasons,  from  publishing  it,  while  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States  or  Great  Britain.  About  ten  years  later,  Harper 
Brothers  published  as  a  political  tract,  the  gist  of  the  book  in 
pamphlet  form.  He  also  published  two  volumes,  giving  an 
account  of  his  experiences,  adventures  and  of  the  Indians  among 
whom  he  lived  on  the  expedition  to  the  Minnay  Sotor.  He  also 
published  a  satirical  sketch  in  1839,  entitled:  "Baron  Roorback's 
Tour."  This  name  "Roorback,"  became  a  catch-word  in  the 
south,  to  describe  persons  of  the  "Roorback"  variety. 

But  even  now.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  not  permitted  to 
remain  in  private  life.  His  warm  personal  friend.  Lord  Aber- 
deen, in  recognition  of  his  services  in  America,  appointed  him 
to  represent  Great  Britain,  as  Consul  of  the  Department  of  the 
Sein,  in   France.     It  was  at  Havre,  France,   in  his  capacity  of 


ig6  Old  Schenectady. 

Consul,  that  he  experienced  the  most  exciting  and  romantic  of  ail 
his  adventures.  This  was  nothing  less  than  helping  the  King  of 
France  to  escape,  from  his  rebellious  people,  to  England.  Soon 
after  going  to  Havre,  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  London.  In  1845,  ne  went  to  Paris  and  was  presented 
to  the  King  and  Queen.  Louis  Philippe  was  delighted  with  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh ;  both  were  accomplished  linguists  and  exten- 
sive travelers ;  and  as  the  King  had  been  in  the  United  States, 
they  spent  much  time  in  conversation.  An  invitation  to  attend 
the  royal  ball  and  supper  was  received  and  accepted.  A  warm 
friendship  existed  between  the  great  Anglo-Saxon  and  the 
unfortunate  French  King,  which  culminated  in  the  saving  of  the 
King  by  his  Anglo-Saxon  friend,  from  capture  and,  possibly,  from 
death. 

When  Louis  Philippe  abandoned  the  throne,  in  February, 
1848,  he  fled  to  the  coast  opposite  England,  in  the  hope  that  he 
would  be  able  to  escape  across  the  channel.  The  British  Govern- 
ment, anticipating  this  attempt  by  the  King,  Lord  Palmerston 
issued  orders  to  all  British  officials  to  help  him,  if  it  should  be 
possible.  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  being  more  in  touch  with  the 
King,  from  his  acquaintance  with  him,  received  information  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  coast  near  Honfleur.  He  sent 
the  Vice-Consul,  in  a  sailing  packet,  to  the  place  where  the  King 
and  Queen  were  in  hiding.  The  \/Tice-Consul  found  them  in  a 
small  house  and  explained  his  errand.  The  King  sent  a  request 
to  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  to  try  to  devise  a  plan  for  his  escape, 
and  promised  that  he  would  follow  it  faithfully.  An  excuse  for 
sending  tht  packet  back  in  the  evening  was  made.  The  King  and 
Queen  disguised  themselves,  the  King  being  "Mr.  Smith,"  an 
uncle  of  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh."  Provided  with  the  Consul's 
passport,  they  arrived  by  the  packet  safely  at  Havre  and  were 
met  on  the  dock  by  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  who,  according  to  the 
King's  own  account  of  it,  asked:  "How  do  you  do,  Uncle?"  to 
which  the  King  replied  :  "Very  well,  George,  I  thank  you." 

The  "uncle"  took  his  "nephew's"  arm,  and  they  pushed  their 


Featherstonhaugh.  197 

way  through  the  crowd  of  gendarmes  to  board  the  little  British 
steamer,  in  command  of  Captain  Paul,  who  had  everything  in 
readiness  and  steam  up,  for  a  hurried  departure.  As  they 
were  descending"  the  gang-plank  to  the  steamer,  Madam  Mousse, 
a  hanger-on  and  amateur  detective  of  the  Customs  House,  stared 
the  King  in  the  face  and  forced  an  introduction  by  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh, who  said:  "My  uncle,  Mr.  Smith.  Madam  Mousse." 
"Ah,"  said  she,  "it  appears  that  the  uncle  is  not  much  older  than 
the  nephew."  The)  then  forced  their  way  past  the  woman  and 
entering  the  cabin  of  the  steamer,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  took  the 
King's  hand,  and  said:  "Now,  thank  God,  you  are  safe."  He 
immediately  left  the  King,  and  stepped  on  to  the  dock,  just  as 
the  steamer  was  moving  off.  Madam  Mousse  had,  in  the  mean- 
time, called  a  French  officer,  who  asked:  "Who  was  the  person 
you  put  on  board  the  steamer?"  "My  uncle,"  was  the  reply. 
"Ah,  Mr.  Consul,  what  have  you  done,  what  have  you  done?" 
"What  would  you  have  clone  in  my  place?"  asked  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh. The  King  reached  England  safely,  and  before  his 
death,  two  years  later,  sent  to  his  friend  and  rescuer,  the  British 
Consul  at  Havre,  a  golden  box,  studded  with  diamonds.  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh  was  especially  invited  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
the  unfortunate  Louis  Philippe. 

Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  remained  as  Consul  at  Havre  up  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  in  September,  1866,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six. 
That  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh  was  intensely  English  and 
loved  his  country,  was  shown  by  the  architecture  of  his  Duanes- 
burg  mansion,  the  arrangement  of  the  park  in  which  it  stood;  but 
more  emphatically  was  his  feeling  for  the  "Old  Country"  shown, 
while  Consul  in  Havre ;  for  he  caused  a  ship-load  of  English  sod 
to  be  brought  over,  so  that,  when  he  walked  in  his  garden  he 
could  tread  upon  his  beloved  England. 

As  an  author,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  able  to  combine 
entertainment  with  instruction.  His  two  books  of  travel :  "An 
Excursion  in  the  Slave  States"  and,  "A  Canoe  Voyage  up  the 
Minnay  Sotor,"  are  so  enlivened  by  the  narration  of  adventures 


198  Old  Schenectady. 

and  incidents;  by  anecdotes  and  humorous  description,  that  they 
seem  more  like  stories  than  an  actual  account  of  a  scientific 
exploration,  by  a  representative  of  the  United  States  Government. 

Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  was  a  man  possessed  of  high  attain- 
ments and  cultivation,  who  traveled  through  a  new  country  as  a 
student  of  men  and  manners,  as  well  as  a  geologist.  His  impartial 
and  true  description  of  the  people  of  the  South  and  Southwest,  in 
slavery  days,  of  their  manner  of  living,  cheir  habits,  customs  and 
speech,  makes  "An  Excursion  in  The  Slave  States"  as  readable 
to-day,  as  it  was  when  first  published.  The  Americans  of  this 
generation  know  even  less  about  America  and  the  Americans,  of 
the  time  about  which  he  wrote,  than  they  do  about  Tibet  or  the 
Antartic  regions. 

There  has  probably  been  no  English  gentleman,  who  has 
written  upon  the  subject  of  America  and  the  Americans,  who  so 
fully  appreciated  the  fine  qualities  of  the  American  men  and 
women  of  cultivation  and  refinement,  as  did  Air.  Featherston- 
haugh.  His  standard  of  American  manhood  and  womanhood  was 
high  ;  for  it  was  based  upon  his  wife,  Sarah  Duane  and  her  stately 
mother  and  upon  his  friends,  the  statesmen  and  scholars  of  the 
United  States,  who,  with  himself,  regarded  the  mutual  friendship 
as  an  honor.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  has  been 
any  English  author,  whose  subject  was  America  and  its  people, 
who  was  so  completely  nauseated  and  disgusted  with  that  vast 
liord  of  illiterate,  illbred  provincials,  who  polluted  the  atmosphere 
with  their  speech  and  disgusted  the  eye  with  their  manners ;  whose 
one  object  in  life  was  an  ostentatious  display,  whose  one  hope,  the 
accumulation  of  dollars.  But  unlike  other,  later  English  writers, 
Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  did  not  condemn  the  whole  Nation, 
because  it  included  barbarians,  nor  did  he  ridicule  the  people — 
and  their  institutions — whose  hospitality  and  friendship  he  had 
accepted.  On  the. contrary,  in  all  of  his  books,  he  gauged  his 
estimate  of  America  from  the  highest  standard  and  only  con- 
demned those  who  fell  below  it,  because  their  fall  seemed  to  be 
wilful  and  of  intention.     While  his  associates  were,  by  choice, 


Featherstonhaugh.  199 

people  of  his  own  class,  he,  at  the  same  time  esteemed  and  gave 
his  friendship  to  persons  of  simple  manners  and  humble  posi- 
tions who  lived  so  close  to  Nature  that  they  were  Nature's  noble- 
men and  women.  The  qualities  which  appealed  to  him  in  the 
humble,  were,  modesty,  cleanliness,  thrift  and  honesty,  and  he. 
found  many  such  in  the  humble  log-cabins,  in  the  great  north 
and  south-west  through  which  he  traveled ;  and  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  doubt  that  his  gentle  breeding  and  fine  manhood 
appealed  to  them  with  equal  strength. 

The  book  on  the  geological-exploration  journey  into  the 
north-west  and  up  the  Minnay  Sotor  river  is  entirely  different 
from  the  other,  but  equally  fine  and  interesting.  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh's  descriptions  of  the  pre-historic  (Indian?)  mounds 
and  earthen  fortifications  are  particularly  interesting  to  students 
of  the  subject  of  the  mound  builders.  One  of  the  strong  points 
of  this  book  is,  that,  in  describing  the  Indians,  their  manner  of 
living  and  their  customs,  the  author  has  considered  no  detail  too 
insignificant  to  be  recorded.  Thus,  a  better  idea  of  how  they 
lived,  what  they  did  and  of  their  tribal  and  family  customs,  is 
given  to  the  reader,  than  would  be  possible  from  the  generaliza- 
tions of  many  other  writers  upon  little  known  people  and  lands. 
Two  striking  predictions  made  by  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh,  more 
than  half  a  century  ago,  have  been  fulfilled  in  a  most  striking 
manner.  One  was  in  regard  to  Pittsburg:  "Pittsburg  will,  in 
time,  be  the  great  manufacturing  place  of  America.  Here  will 
be  sent  the  iron  smelted  from  the  furnaces  that  will  soon  be 
erected  all  over  this  region  of  coal  and  iron ;  *  *  *  *  will 
soon  make  it  the  Birmingham  of  America."'  The  other  was,  that 
the  territory  lying  to  the  west  from  the  great  lakes,  would  become 
the  great  granary  of  the  United  States.  It  must  be  remembered, 
that  when  the  prediction  was  made,  the  country  was  in  its  primi- 
tive wilderness.  This  prediction  was  based  upon  the  knowledge 
he  had  acquired  as  an  experimental  and  practical  agriculturist 
and  upon  his  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  American  people  to  see, 
and  then  grasp  opportunity. 


200 


Old  Schenectady. 


JAMES  DUANE  FEATHERSTONHAUGH. 

James  Duane  Featherstonhaugh  was  born  on  the  Duanes- 
burg  estate  in  1815  and  spent  the  first  eleven  years  of  his  life 
there,  romping  in  the  fields  and  woods,  fishing  in  the  lake  and 
preparing  with  a  tutor  for  college.  His  love  for  travel,  inherited 
from  his  father,  was  indulged  in  his  twelfth  year,  when  in  1826, 
his  father  sailed  for  England  to  consult  George  Stephenson  in 

the  interests  of  the  Mohawk 
&  Hudson  Railroad.  Two 
years  were  spent  on  the  conti- 
nent <by  his  parents,  young 
James  in  the  meantime  attend- 
ing school  in  Yorkshire. 
After  the  return  to  America, 
in  1828,  the  home  in  Duanes- 
burg  having  burnt  down,  the 
family  lived  in  Xew  York  and 
he  continued  his  education 
and  prepared  for  college  at 
Hyde  Park.  He  took  his  en- 
trance examinations  for  Union 
College  in  1830  and  was  grad- 
uated with  the  class  of  '34,  at 
the  age  of  nineteen.  The  three  years  after  graduation  were  spent 
in  railroad  construction. 

In  1837,  he  sailed,  alone,  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
the  coronation  of  Britain's  best  and  most  enlightened  ruler,  Queen 
Victoria.  He  remained  in  England  but  a  short  time  and,  return- 
ing to  New  York,  he  continued  to  reside  there  till  his  father 
determined  to  return  to  England  to  live  there  permanently,  it 
was  at  this  time,  1839,  that  father  and  son  were  appointed, 
respectively,  by  the  British  Government,  a  commissioner  and  an 
engineer  of  the  north-east  boundary  dispute.  The  wilderness  of 
Maine  and  the  adjoining  territory  of  Canada  was  grand  with  its 


Featherstonhaugh . 


Feather stonhaugh. 


20 1 


first-growth  pine,  of  great  height  and  circumference,  its  great 
oaks  and  other  hard  woods  and  its  splendid  cedars.  The  woods 
in  those  days  were  not  like  the  woods  we  know  anything  about, 
with  a  thick  tangle  of  undergrowth  and  saplings.  The  ground 
was  free  from  all  small  vegetation  that  impedes  the  way  and  the 
sight.  The  natural  condition  was  like  what  we  call  a  grove,  in 
these  days,  so  the  view  was  unobstructed,  save  by  the  great  stems 
of  the  giant  trees  of  the  primitive  forest.     The  beautiful  lakes 


One  of  the   Fireplaces   in   the   Ftatherstonhaugh   Mansion. 
On  the  marble  slab  across  the  opening  is  a  remarkable  outline  of  the  profile  of  the  father  of  the  present  owner. 

and  rivers,  so  clear  that  the  white  sandy  beds  could  he  seen  man\ 
feet  below  the  surface,  were  generously  su]  plied  with  great  lake- 
trout  and  the  speckled  beauties  of  great  size,  and  the  forests  and 
swamps  with  game  and  fierce  animals,  especially  the  small  and 
fearless  lynx.  All  this,  the  closeness  to  Nature  and  the  interest 
of  his  work,  appealed  to  him  as  the  journeys  for  exploration  had, 
in  the  years  past,  to  his  father. 


202  Old  Schenectady. 

During  the  four  years  he  was  in  the  wilderness,  he  experi- 
enced hardships,  privation,  adventures  and  one  of  the  most 
horrible  experiences  imaginable.  Late  one  autumn,  all  the  men 
of  the  surveying  party,  except  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  and  a 
French-Canadian,  left  the  camp  to  go  up  the  St.  John's  river  for 
the  winter's  supplies,  expecting  to  return  in  a  few  weeks,  but  a 
great  snow  storm  prevented  it  and  shut  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh 
off  from  the  world  for  four  months.  One  day,  after  the  great 
fall  of  snow,  the  "Canuck"  heard  or  saw  a  moose  not  far  from  the 
log  house.  He  started  out  to  shoot  it,  if  possible,  for  its  meat,  as 
they  were  short  of  provisions,  and  for  its  hide.  As  the  man  had 
not  returned  to  camp  at  dusk,  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh  went  in 
search  of  him.  After  several  hours  spent  without  finding  the 
man,  he  returned  to  camp  for  rest  and  food.  In  the  morning,  he 
renewed  the  search  and  found  his  man  not  far  from  the  camp 
lying  close  to  the  body  of  the  dead  moose  between  its  fore  and 
hind  legs.  The  Canadian  was  in  a  shocking  condition.  His  feet, 
legs,  hands  and  arms,  being  unprotected  from  the  intense  cold, 
were  frozen.  The  man  was  carried  to  the  log  house  and  lived  in 
this  awful  condition  for  ten  days.  After  his  death,  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh suspended  the  body  by  a  rope  from  the  ridgepole  of  the 
cabin,  where  it  froze  stiff  and  swayed  gently  for  four  months,  in 
the  wind,  which  forced  its  way  between  the  logs.  It  is  difficult 
to  even  imagine  what  it  must  have  been  to  be  forced  to  sleep  and 
eat  in  the  presence  of  the  swaying  corpse ;  to  go  out  into  the 
dazzling  depths  of  snow  and  the  sun  to  hunt  for  food,  only  to 
return  to  the  awesome  presence  of  his  dead  companion.  At  last, 
late  in  the  winter,  the  absent  members  of  the  party  returned  to  the 
cabin  on  snowshoes  and  soon  after,  they  and  Mr.  Featherston- 
haugh, left  the  woods  and  he  returned  to  civilization  and  his 
friends. 

In  1844,  his  marriage  with  Miss  Emily  Chapman,  daughter 
of  General  Sidney  F.  Chapman,  of  Virginia,  took  place  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  President  Tyler  was  a  guest  at  the  wedding  and 
charming  Dolly  Madison  stood  by  the  side  of  the  bride,  during 


Feather stonhaugh. 


203 


the  ceremony.  After  a  year  spent  in  Washington,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Featherstonhaugh  sailed  for  France  to  reside  in  Havre  where  Mr. 
Featherstonhaugh 's  father,  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  was 
British  Consul.  Mr.  Featherstonhangh  was  present  on  the  night 
his  father  helped  the  King-  of  France  to  escape  to  England.  He 
and  his  wife  resided  in  Havre  till  1852,  when  they  crossed  the 
channel  to  England  and  lived  in  the  suburb  of  Great  Ealing,  till 
1855,  when  they  returned  to  America,  where  Mr.  Featherston- 
haugh's  presence  was  necessary  to  take  charge  of  the  Duanesburg 


Featherstonhaugh   Mansion,   Duanesburg,  Built  in    1812. 


property  and  mansion  left  to  him  by  his  aunt.  They  resided  in 
the  Duanesburg  mansion,  built  by  Miss  Catherine  Livingston 
Duane  in  1812,  till  1866,  when  the  family  moved  to  Schenectady, 
only  spending  the  summer  months  in  Duanesburg.  Mr.  Feather- 
stonhaugh  died  in  1899. 

Mr.  James  Duane  Featherstonhaugh's  gentle  birth  and  culti- 
vated mind  caused  him  to  treat  all  persons,  irrespective  of  position 


204 


Old  Schenectady. 


or  condition,  with  friendly  courtesy.  The  Indians  among  whom 
he  lived  for  the  greater  part  of  four  years  in  the  Maine  forest  and 
across  the  border  in  Canada,  had  the  same  feelings  of  confidence 
and  esteem  for  him,  in  their  primitive  savage  refinement,  as  did 
Ins  social  and  intellectual  equals  at  home  and  abroad.  Whether 
in  the  log  cabin  of  the  Maine  forests  or  the  hospitable  home  of 
Park  and  Nellie  Custis,  where  he  was  a  frequent  and  welcome 
visitor,  he  was  the  same — faithful  to  all  his  inherited  instincts. 


Colonial  Furniture   in    Delantey   li'atkins'   Hous 


Chapter  XIII. 


GENERAL  WILLIAM   N<  >RTH. 

BOUT  one-third  of  mile  east  of  the  Featherstonhaugb 
mansion  in  Duanesburg,  is  the  old  North  house,  built 
by  General  William  North  in  [784,  when  the  wilder- 
ness was  vast  and  grand  and  the  wolves  were  fierce 
and  numerous  and  so  hold,  that  they  howled  about  the 
house  at  night,  while  it  was  being  built. 
There  is  nothing  of  the  mansion  about  the  North 
house,  but  it  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  old-time  New 
England  home,  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  coast- 
towns  of  Massachusetts  and  Maine.  This  North  house  is  forty- 
five  feet  square,  with  large  rooms  and  lofty  ceilings.  The  base- 
ment was  finished  off  for  the  kitchen,  pantries  and  the  apartments 
for  the  house-slaves.  The  side  of  the  basement,  fronting  the 
south,  was  open  ;  while,  at  the  back  and  ends,  were  the  usual 
mason  work  against  the  excavation,  the  south  side,  being  on  the 
brow  of  a  knoll,  was  fitted  with  doors  and  windows.  That  portion 
of  the  basement,  not  itsed  for  kitchen  and  living  quarters,  was 
divided  into  store-rooms  for  provisions,  vegetables  and  the  famous 
North  wine-cellar. 

General  North  and  his  frequent  visitors.  Baron  Steuben. 
Generals  Popham,  Schuyler  and  other  famous  men,  were  port- 
vviners  of  the  three-bottle  variety.  They  drank  long  and  deep 
and  played  for  high  stakes,  but  their  drinking  and  their  gaming 
were  the  drinking  and  gaming  of  gentlemen  of  the  old  school. 
If  the  negro  butler  put  them  all  to  bed,  after  a  jolly  night,  in  the 
small  hours,  the  white  butler  was  doing  the  same  thing  for  the 
same  class  of  hard  drinking,  great-hearted  gentlemen,  in  the  old 
country. 

William    North,    a    voting    gentleman    of    cultivation,    fine 


2o6 


Old  Schenectady. 


presence  and  ardent  patriotism,  was  born  in  1755.  in  Maine,  and 
entered  the  Continental  army  at  the  early  age  of  nineteen  and  was 
assigned  to  service  in  Xew  York.  His  military  duties  brought 
him  in  frequent  contact  with  Baron  Steuben,  who  was  so  greatly 
pleased  with  young  Xorth  that,  young  as  he  was,  Steuben 
appointed  him  an  aide  on  his  staff.  North  did  his  duty  as  a 
soldier,  well  and  faithfully  and,  although  not  particularly  con- 
spicuous for  any  one  act.  was  worthy  of  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  Washington,  Steuben,  Herkimer  and  Schuyler.  That  other 
patriot  and  statesman,  Judge  Duane,  regarded  young  North  so 
highly  that  he  gave  him  his  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  in  marriage. 
As  in  the  case  of  his  other  son-in-law,  George  W.  Featherston- 
haugh,  judge  Duane  gave  General  North's  wife  an  estate  of  one 
thousand  acres  in  Duanesburg. 

It  has  been  said  that  General  Xorth  found  the  estate  covered 
by  a  forest  of  magnificent  trees  of  pine  and  hard  woods.  He 
attacked  Nature  with  the  same  vim  with  which  he  had  attacked 


Genera!   Ifilliam   Xorth's   Duanesburg  Home,  Built 


General  William  North.  207 

the  British  and  finally  succeeded  in  making  a  very  fine  place  of  it. 
The  timber  for  the  frame  of  the  house  and  the  pine  and  beautiful 
curly  maple  for  the  interior  finish,  were  cut  on  the  place.  The 
daylight  noises  of  hammer  and  saw  were  succeeded  at  night  by 
the  howls  of  the  hungry  wolves,  till  the  house  was  finished,  when 
the  men  had  time  to  devote  to  hunting. 

The  main  entrance  is  through  a  vestibule  ;  thence,  directly  into 
the  living  room,  twenty-two  feet  square.  Opposite  the  door,  is  the 
great  chimney  with  its  open  fireplace.  Back  of  this  room,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  great  chimney,  is  a  cosey  dining  room  with  a 
fireplace  and  a  trapdoor,  leading  down  to  the  well-stocked  wine- 
cellar.  A  hall  separates  the  dining  room  from  a  large  room 
which  General  North,  with  his  Yankee  birth  and  training, 
probably  called  "the  best  room,"  or  possibly,  "a  chamber."  At 
the  front  and  adjoining  the  living  room,  is  the  library.  The 
library  is  provided  with  a  bookcase,  extending  across  one  side  of 
the  room  and  reaching  nearly  to  the  ceiling.  It  is  made  of  beauti- 
ful curly  maple,  which  has  grown  dark  with  age.  Upstairs,  over 
the  dining-room  was  the  school-room,  and  across  the  hall,  the 
bed-room  where  Baron  Steuben  passed  many  a  night,  dreaming 
of  port  and  sherry  and  cognac,  to  be  assimilated  on  some  future 
occasion. 

On  the  panes  of  the  windows  in  the  living  room  are  to  be 
seen,  to-day,  some  initials  made  with  diamonds,  by  General 
North's  famous  guests.  The  most  interesting  of  them  all  are 
those  of  Hannah  North,  the  general's  daughter,  who,  it  may  be 
imagined,  in  her  girlish  pride  in  the  possession  of  her  first 
diamond,  tried  its  hardness  upon  the  window-pane,  by  scratching 
her  name  thereon.  A  sample  of  the  quality  of  material  of  those 
days  is  to  be  found  in  the  paper  on  the  walls  of  the  living-room. 
It  has  a  whitish  background;  the  pattern,  in  light  brown,  repre- 
senting minerets  and  cathedral-like  arches.  This  paper  is  in  as 
good  condition  as  it  was  when  General  North  occupied  the  house. 

The  house  stands  on  the  eastern  end  of  one  of  those  '"hog- 
backs" or  elongated  knolls  with  which  the  Duanesburg  hills  are 


2(  >8  Old  Schenectady. 

topped,  as  described  in  the  chapter  on  Judge  Duane.  The  land 
falls  away  at  the  sides,  and  in  the  rear  gradually.  And  on  the  east 
or  front,  is  a  considerable  level.  South  of  the  house,  some  six 
hundred  feet,  is  a  little  valley  half  a  mile  long,  and  of  irregular 
width,  averaging,  perhaps,  an  eighth  of  a  mile.  Through  this,  in 
the  old  days,  ran  a  vigorous  little  brook  which  left  the  valley  at  the 
western  end,  through  a  narrow  gorge  six  feet  wide.  Across  this 
General  North  placed  a  dam,  thus  forming  a  charming  lake  half 
a  mile  long,  with  winding  shores,  heavily  timbered  on  the  south 
and  cleared  fields  and  the  grounds  immediately  surrounding  the 
house,  on  the  north.  The  lake  was  particularly  beautiful  and 
added  greatly  to  the  charm  of  the  scenery.  Thirty  or  forty  years 
ago  the  dam  was  destroyed  and  the  water  allowed  to  run  off, 
because  the  bottom  of  the  lake  was  so  valuable  for  farming  pur- 
poses— the  rich,  black  loam  being  very  fertile.  Even  the  brook 
loses  itself,  save  in  wet  weather,  for  the  cutting  off  of  the  forest 
has  caused  many  of  the  bubbling  springs  of  those  old  days  to  dry 
up.  Thus,  many  lovely  spots  as  well  as  characters,  have  been 
changed  into  ugliness  for  the  sake  of  the  almighty  dollar. 

A  road  and  stone  walk  connected  the  North  home  with  the 
present  Featherstonhaugh  mansion — built  by  Miss  Catherine 
Livingston  Duane,  in  :8i2— a  third  of  a  mile  distant  from  the 
North  house.  This  must  not  be  confused  with  the  original 
mansion,  built  by  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  on  the  shore 
of  Featherstonhaugh  lake ;  but  it  is  the  mansion  in  which  his  son 
James  Duane  Featherstonhaugh  lived  and  in  which  his  grandson, 
the  present  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  and  his  family,  spend 
the  summer  months — the  house  shown  in  the  picture. 

For  some  reason,  not  known,  the  granddaughters  of  General 
North,  Miss  Hannah  North  and  Mrs.  Weston,  the  wife  of  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Cody  Weston,  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  sold  the 
Duanesburg  home  and  built  a  house  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
The  knocker  and  one  of  the  mantle-pieces  of  the  Duanesburg 
home  were  sent  to  Newport  to  be  used  in  that  house  and  unless 
they  were  removed  when  Miss  North  sold  the  Newport  property, 
they  are  still  there. 


General  William  North.  209 

In  recognition  of  his  services  and  ability,  William  North  was 
appointed  by  Washington,  in  1798,  inspector-general  of  the  United 
States  armies.  General  North  served  from  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  till  the  close  at  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown, 
on  which  important  occasion  he  was  present.  In  civil  life,  he  was 
perhaps  even  more  prominent  than  in  military  life.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  Erie  canal  commissioners;  was  three  times  speaker  ot 
the  Assembly  and  United  States  Senator.  General  North  died  in 
1836. 

The  beautiful  specimens  of  Indian  skill  in  chipping  stone. 
the  arrow  and  spear  heads  shown  in  the  picture,  were  found  on 
the  ground  which  was  covered  by  the  artificial  lake,  by  Mr. 
Emmett  McOuade,  of  New  York  city,  a  son  of  the  present  owner 
of  the  North  property.  Besides  the  symmetry  and  fine  work- 
manship of  the  relics,  there  is  the  additional  interest  due  to  the 
fact  that  they  were  found  on  the  top  of  a  hill  of  eight  hundred 
feet  elevation,  three  or  four  miles  from  the  Norman's  Kill  and 
twelve  miles  from  the  Mohawk  river.  It  was  generally  supposed 
that  the  Indians  did  not  live  on  the  highlands  nor  far  from  a  river 
or  lake;  but  there  are  evidences,  on  the  North  place,  of  a  small 
Indian  encampment,  possibly  of  three  or  four  families. 


Indian  Spear  Heads,  found  on  Gen  I  North's  Place, 


Chapter  XIV. 


TOLL. 

F*^^^"l  UC1 1  admirable  historians  of  Schenectady  County    i.- 
^W  Pearson,  his  editor,   Major  McMurray  and  the  lion. 

|  John  Sanders,  state  that  karri  Haensen  Toll,  the  first 
American  ancestor  of  the  Toll  family,  was  born  in 
Sweden;  1  ml  his  great-grandson  arrives  at  the  con 
elusion,  after  long  and  careful  investigation,  that  the 
family  is  of  Norwegian  extraction.  This  opinion  is 
strongly  sustained  by  the  spelling  of  the  second  name, 
Haensen,  the  ending,  "sen"  being  a  typical  Norwegian 
ending;  the  Swedish  ending  of  the  same  name  would  be,  "son." 
This  great-grandson.  Dr.  D.  J.  Toll,  in  [847,  wrote  a  fifty- 
page  pamphlet,  in  his  old  age,  giving  anecdotes  and  reminiscences 
of  the  family  and  of  two  or  three  other  old  families,  based  upon 
tradition  which  he  obtained  by  word  of  month,  from  old  men  who 
were  horn  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  which  they 
obtained  from  their  fathers  and  grandfathers,  who  were  living 
before  and  immediately  after  the  massacre.  In  other  words  ;  there 
were,  at  the  most,  but  two  lives  between  Dr.  Toll  and  the  days  of 
the  settlement  of  Schenectady.  This  is  obtaining  the  traditional 
history  of  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  and  all  of  the  eighteenth 
centuries,  in  the  most  direct  manner,  possible. 

That  Karel  Haensen  Toll  came  to  Schenectady  at  all — or.  ;it 
least,  when  he  did  come — was,  largely.  ;i  matter  of  chance.  That 
he  was  a  seafaring  man  is  probable;  for,  previous  to  [680,  he  was 
captured  by  the  Spanish,  off  the  Spanish  Main — as  the  north  coast 
of  South  America  and  the  neighboring  islands  were  called — and 
imprisoned  with  a  companion,  probably  in  the  fortress  of  Porto 
Cabello.  After  close  confinement  for  several  days,  Toll  and 
his  companion  were  given  the  liberty  of  the  prison-yard,  during 


212  Old  Schenectady. 

daylight,  but  were  required  to  be  in  their  cell  at  sunset,  at  which 
time  the  keeper  visited  all  the  cells  to  look  through  the  peek-hole 
of  the  doors  to  see  that  the  prisoners  were  in  their  cots  ;  and  then, 
to  lock  doors. 

While  walking  about  the  yard,  they,  one  day,  saw  a  strange 
ship  standing  in  for  the  harbor.  It  remained  a  day  or  two  and 
then  beat  out  to  sea,  only  to  return  a  few  days  later.  This  was 
repeated  several  times.  It  gave  the  captives  an  idea  for  escaping. 
It  was  an  idea  requiring  courage  and  determination,  qualities 
which  Karel  Haensen  Toll  showed  that  he  possessed,  in  a  high 
degree,  in  after  years,  as  a  pioneer  in  Schenectady. 

Toll  and  his  companion  made  their  plans  and  one  day,  they 
arranged  their  cots  in  the  cell,  to  give  them  the  appearance  of 
being  occupied.  When  the  keeper  made  his  rounds  and  glanced 
through  the  peek-hole,  he  thought  that  he  saw  the  two  prisoners, 
asleep  in  their  cots.  They,  in  fact,  were  hiding  under  the  shadow 
of  the  outer-wall  of  the  fortress.  As  soon  as  it  was  dark  enough, 
they  climbed  the  wall  and  made  for  the  seashore,  where  they 
made  a  solemn  agreement  to  stick  by  one  another  and  swim  to 
the  ship,  or  die  in  the  attempt.  The  sea  was  shallow  for  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  land  and  was  clogged  with  a  sea-weed 
having  sharp  edges,  which  cut  and  scratched  their  bodies  pain- 
fully, and  the  salt-water  greatlv  added  to  their  distress.  Toll's 
companion  suffered  so  greatly  that  he  decided  to  return  to  cap- 
tivity, rather  than  endure  the  agony  longer.  They  bade  each 
other  good-bye  and  Toll  continued  his  flight  for  liberty. 

He  soon  left  the  sea-weed  and  striking  deep  water,  began  a 
swim  which  lasted  far  into  the  night,  till  suddenly  his  ears  were 
gladdened  by  the  sound  of  a  cock  crowing,  and  then  he  saw  the 
Hash  of  a  lantern.  Looking  up,  lie  saw  the  ship,  hailed  it  and.  after 
giving  an  account  of  himself,  was  taken  on  board.  The  crew 
provided  him  with  clothing  and  in  the  morning  he  told  his  story 
to  the  captain,  who  assured  him  that  he  would  not  be  given  up  to 
the  Spanish,  so  long  as  there  was  powder  and  shot  on  the  ship. 
A  little  later  in  the  dav,  some  officers  from  the  fort  came  off  to 


Toll.  213 

the  ship  in  a  boat,  but  the  captain  denied  all  knowledge  of  the 
escaped  prisoner.  Toll  remained  in  the  ship,  which  touched  at 
the  Island  of  Cnracoa,  and  arrived  in  New  York  City  about  1680. 
The  fact  that  the  last  port  touched,  before  arriving  at  New  York, 
was  Cnracoa,  no  doubt  occasioned  the  belief  that  Toll  came  from 
that  Island,  directly  to  Schenectady,  as  1'earson  and  Sanders,  in 
their  histories,  say  that  he  did. 

The  Indians  had  a  custom  of  giving  names  to  other  Indians 
and  to  white  men,  which  described  some  particular  event  or 
characteristic.  Air.  Toll's  Indian  name  was  Kingegom  or  fish, 
his  long  swim  for  freedom  being  something  which  appealed 
strongly  to  the  Indians'  love  of  courage  and  endurance. 

At  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Xew  York,  Karel  was,  probably, 
about  twenty-five  years  old.  Whether  he  remained  in  New  York 
for  a  year  or  two,  or  proceeded  directly  to  Albany,  is  not  known ; 
but  that  he  married  Lysbet,  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Rickhout,  of 
.Albany,  is  shown  by  the  records  of  that  city.  Lysbet,  by  the  way, 
is  in  English,  Elizabeth  and  Karel  Haensen  is  Charles  Henry. 
They  had  three  sons  and  five  daughters,  the  first-born  was  a 
daughter,  Xeeltje,  who  was  born  on  June  20,  1686.  At  the  time 
of  his  marriage,  he  was  living — and  perhaps  had  been  living  for 
two  or  three  years — in  Schenectady. 

Karel  Haensen  Toll  arrived  in  Schenectady  with  no  other 
capital  than  a  sound  body  and  mind;  a  great  deal  of  that  "stuff" 
which  made  the  old  Norsemen,  from  whom  he  was  descended, 
invincible;  and  as  great  a  determination  to  succeed  as  he  had 
when  he  swam,  all  night,  with  the  agony  of  salt-water  in  the  cuts 
and  scratches  with  which  his  body  was  covered.  At  twenty-five, 
these  qualities  were  his  only  possessions ;  in  his  old  age.  he 
measured  his  possessions  by  the  square  mile.  He  developed  a 
will,  which  made  him  masterful  and  an  individuality  so  great,  that 
it  verged  upon  eccentricity.  That  he  fulfilled  the  rather  stiff 
requirements  of  the  early  Dutch  Protestants,  and  was  accepted 
into  full  communion  in  the  venerable  First  Dutch  Church  in  1694, 
is  shown  bv  the  church-records. 


2  14  Old  Schenectady. 

Karel  first  settled  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawk  river, 
eight  miles  west  of  Schenectady,  near  what  is  now  Hoffman's 
ferry.  His  first  dwelling"  was  what,  in  the  early  cattle-ranch  days 
of  the  west,  was  called  a  "dug-out."  A  rectangular  excavation 
was  made  in  a  hill-side;  the  front  was  inclosed  with  logs  and  the 
roof  was  made  of  poles  and  bark.  Here.  Karel  and  his  wife  lived 
and  toiled  ;  he,  in  the  fields  ;  she,  at  the  spinning-wheel  and  the 
oven.  Economy,  thrift  and  profitable  trade  with  the  Indians — too 
far  in  the  wilderness  to  be  interfered  with  by  the  greedy  Albany 
authorities — started  Air.  and  Airs.  Toll  on  the  highway  to  wealth. 
The  tiny  wages  paid  by  the  men  for  whom  he  worked,  by  the 
day,  were  carefully  saved.  That  the  wives  of  those  days  were,  in 
truth,  help-mates  and  capable  of  great  physical  exertion,  was 
shown  by  the  fact,  that  when  flour  was  needed,  Airs.  Toll  would 
walk  the  eight  miles  from  her  home  to  Schenectady  and  back, 
carrying  three  pecks  of  the  flour  on  her  shoulder.  This  flour 
would  be  made  into  cakes,  sweetened  with  maple-sugar  and 
"swapped"  with  the  sweet-toothed  Indians,  for  pelts;  which,  in 
turn,  would  lie  sold  at  great  profit,  to  be  sent  abroad  to  Holland, 
where  the  tanning  of  skins  for  furs  had  reached  a  degree  of  skill 
not  possible  in  any  other  country  of  Europe,  at  that  time.  Besides 
being  a  source  of  profit  to  Airs.  Toll,  the  Indians  were  a  great 
nuisance;  for  they  would  not  only  hang  around,  while  the  baking 
was  in  progress,  begging  for  food,  but  they  had  no  idea  of  the 
fine  old  British  axiom  that  a  man's — or  woman's — house  was  his 
castle.  While  the  Indians  were  proud  and  ceremonious,  among 
themselves,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  beg  from  the  whites,  nor  to 
make  themselves  at  home,  all  over  the  house,  and  the  settlers 
were  obliged  to  put  tip  with  the  annovance  for  fear'  of  the 
treachery  and  revengfnl  spirit  of  the  noble  (?)  Redmen.  There 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  Indians  were  dignified,  courteous, 
in  a  savage  way,  and  possibly  noble,  before  the  "Dutch  Courage" 
of  the  white  man  and  the  white  man's  cupidity  had  demoralized 
them.  It  is  equally  doubtful  if  they  were  ever  anything  but 
dirty;  and  there  is  absolutely  no  doubt,  that  after  they  came  in 


Toll.  215 

contact  with  the  white  settlers  in  the  Dutch  Colony,  the)  became 
drunken  heg'gars,  and  even  more  dirty.  As  every  rule  has  its 
exceptions,  so  there  were  exceptions  to  this  rule  ;  there  were  rare 
cases  of  "Noble  Redmen  ;'*  but  they  were  nearly  all,  to  be  found 
in  New  England,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  the  South. 

With  such  physical  strength,  such  energy  and  courage,  as 
were  displayed  by  Elizabeth  Toll,  there  is  nothing  to  wonder  at 
that  she  and  her  husband  accumulated  wealth  and  vast  land 
possessions.  It  was  no  little  undertaking  to  walk  the  eight  miles 
to  the  village,  for  flour,  and  then  to  return  with  three  pecks  of 
it,  in  a  sack  on  her  shoulder  ;  and  besides,  the  journey  was  not 
without  its  dangers;  for  wild  animals  were  in  the  forest  and  even 
wolves  were  numerous  a  hundred  years  later,  in  some  parts  of 
Schenectady  County.  So,  while  Karel  and  Elizabeth  Toll  labored 
and  saved  for  those  who  would  come  after  them,  they  were  also 
accumulating  qualities  and  character  which  would  descend,  as  an 
inheritance,  with  their  lands  and  houses,  to  their  posterity. 

In  1712,  Karel  purchased,  from  the  Clements,  the  property 
known  as  "Maalwyck,"  which,  with  his  other  possessions,  gave 
him  the  ownership  of  nearly  seven  miles  of  valuable  Hats  along 
the  north  bank  of  the  Mohawk  river.  This  "Maalwyck"  farm, 
still  sometimes  called  by  that  name,  but  more  generally  known 
as  "The  Toll  Place,"  is  about  a  mile  from  the  Sanders  mansion, 
on  the  river-road  to  Hoffman's  Ferry. 

The  purchase  of  this  property  began  a  new  state  of  affairs  for 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Toll.  They  abandoned  their  first  humble  home 
and  moved  to  "Maalwyck,"  where  Mr.  Toll  began  the  erection  of 
a  more  suitable  home.  This  house  was  located  a  little  to  the  west 
of  the  present  brick-house,  shown  in  the  picture.  This  new  home 
was  forty  1>\  twenty-five  feet.  It  was  built  of  brick,  probably 
made  near  the  site  of  the  house,  one  story  high  and  topped  with 
the  high,  steep  Dutch  roof,  in  which  was  another  story  and  above 
that,  a  low,  large  attic.  The  usual  weather-vane  was  lacking  on 
this  house,  perhaps  because  Karel  could  tell  which  way  the  wind 
was  blowing,  without  depending  upon  a  vane,  for  information — 


Toll. 


21J 


he  being  a  married  man.  The  earl}-  Dutch  settlers  were  noted 
for  weather-wisdom;  and  it  was  said  that  this  wisdom  was  derived 
from  gazing  for  so  many  hours  at  the  vanes.  "So  wise  did  they 
become,  in  the  matter  of  the  weather,  that  an  experienced  old 
Dutchman  could,  almost  always,  tell  when  it  rained,  if  he  was 
given  a  fair  chance,"  says  Dr.  Toll. 

The  house  being  built  on  a  slope  toward  the  southwest,  had 
a  basement-kitchen,  facing  that  point  of  the  compass  and  behind 
it,  was  the  cellar  for  vegetables  and  other  solid  and  liquid  nourish- 
ment. On  the  first  floor  were  two  great  rooms ;  one  was  the 
kitchen-living  room  and  the  other,  the  best  room,  used  only  on 


Chamber  in   the   Toll  House,   showing   Eighteenth   Century   Furniture  and   Draperies. 


especial  occasions,  such  as  marriages,  funerals  and  visits  of  the 
pastor.  Great  timbers  crossed  the  ceiling  which  were  planed 
smooth,  with  an  occasional  deeper  cut  of  the  ax-blade  showing: 
and  the  ceiling,  also  the  floor  of  the  second  story,  was  of  heavy 
planks,  nearly  a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  with  the  under,  or  ceiling- 
side,  also  planed  smooth  and  rubbed  to  almost  a  polish.     The 


jiS 


Old  Schenectady. 


finest  specimen  of  this  heavy-timbered  ceiling,  now  to  he  found  in 
the  county,  is  in  the  old  Abraham  Glen  house,  on  Mohawk  avenue, 
Scotia,  now  the  residence  of  Mr.  James  Collins,  and  in  the  ruins 
of  the  DeGraff  house,  near  Hardin's  crossing-,  where  the  settlers 
barricaded  themselves  in  the  Beukendaal  Indian  fight.  There 
are  many  other  houses  with  the  great  timbers,  but  the  under- 
sides have  been  ceiled  up,  thus  hiding  a  most  impressive  feature 
of  old-time  architecture.  The  nice,  fine  work,  done  by  the  old- 
time  carpenters,  in  mortising  and  dovetailing  the  joints  of  these 
great  timbers  with  the  even  larger  upright  timbers,  would  be 
beyond  the  skill  of  the  building-carpenters  of  to-day. 

The.  great  fireplace  in  the  Maalwyck  house,  was  two  feet 
deep  and  eight  feet  wide,  so  that  a  four-foot  log  would  rest  upon 
the  great  hand-wrought  andirons.  The  mantel,  six  feet  above 
the  hearth,  was  ornamented  with  hand-made  fluting  and  mould- 
ing and  on  the  shelf,  were  numerous  china  bowls.  The  windows, 
two  by  five  feet,  were  swung  on  hinges,  like  a  door,  and  the  tiny 
panes  of  glass  were  held  in  place  with  sheet-lead,  as  is  the  glass 


Franklin    Stove   and    Ihme    Platte 


Room  of  the   Toll   Ho„s 


Toll.  2  10 

in  stained  windows.  The  "Maalwyck"  house  was,  next  to  the 
Sanders  mansion,  the  largest  in  Schenectady,  at  the  time  it  was 
built. 

The  possession  of   wealth   did   not   change   Karel   Haensen 

Toll;  he  was,  in  all  respects  the  same  man  as  when  lie  began  in 
a  small  and  humble  manner;  hut  it  did  give  him  the  time  to  devote 
more  of  his  great  energy  to  the  affairs  of  the  Colony,  lie  was 
elected  one  of  the  three  representatives  to  the  Colonial  Legisla- 
ture from  Albany  County  in  1714 — of  which  Schenectady  was 
then  a  part — and  he  continued  in  the  Legislature  till  1726. 

His  great-grandson,  Dr.  Daniel  Toll,  relates  an  anecdote,  in 
his  little  pamphlet,  illustrative  of  the  old  gentleman's  sporting- 
hlood  and  humor. 

It  was  on  his  first  journey  to  Xew  York  to  attend  the  Legis- 
lature, that  he  met  an  acquaintance  on  one  of  the  sloops,  which 
made  the  trip  to  New  York  and  hack  to  Albany,  by  way  of  the 
Hudson,  as  regularly  as  wind  and  tide  would  permit.  Air.  Toll 
was  wearing  a  decidedly  old  traveling-coat.  His  acquaintance 
remarked,  in  a  joking  way,  upon  its  appearance,  and  asked  if  he 
intended  to  wear  the  coat  in  the  presence  of  the  Governor.  Mr. 
Toll  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  not  do  so,  as  he  "was  confident 
that  the  coat  was  well-lined  ;"  whereupon  his  acquaintance  bet  a 
certain  sum  that  he  would  not  have  the  nerve  to  do  so.  This 
aroused  Mr.  Toll's  sporting-blood ;  so  he  said,  in  the  language 
of  the  day,  "I'll  take  you."  Arriving  in  Xew  York  a  few  days 
before  the  opening  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Toll  called  upon  the 
Governor,  without  changing  his  old  traveling-coat  for  one  better. 
After  the  Governor  had  greeted  him,  he  remarked  to  Mr.  Toll: 
"Your  coat  seems  rather  threadbare;"  to  which  Mr.  Toll  replied: 
"Yes,  your  Excellency,  but  there  is  a  very  good  lining  under  it." 
He  then  explained  to  the  Governor  that  the  wearing  of  the  coat 
was  not  the  result  of  disrespect  for  himself,  but  of  a  wager ; 
and,  turning  to  the  acquaintance  who  was  also  present,  he 
demanded  the  payment  of  the  wager.     The  Governor  was  much 


220  Old  Schenectady. 

amused  by  the  incident  and  before  the  Legislature  adjourned,  he 
found  that  the  man  who  lined  the  threadbare  coat  was,  indeed,  a 
very  good  one. 

Dr.  Toll  relates  an  incident  which  well  illustrates  his  great- 
grandfather's shrewdness  and  the  difficult  task  of  "doing"  him  ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  his  generous  spirit,  when  he  had  obtained 
the  better  of  the  man  who  hoped  to  "do"  him. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Brazee,  who  kept  a  small  tavern,  met 
Mr.  Toll  one  day,  in  Schenectady,  and  hoping  to  impose  upon  the 
generosity  of  a  rich  man,  told  Mr.  Toll  a  tale  of  woe,  in  regard  to 
his  poverty  and  his  need  of  a  milch-cow  ;  ending  with  the  state- 
ment that  he  did  not  know  where  he  could  get  a  cow,  nor  how  he 
would  be  able  to  pay  for  it.  Air.  Toll  told  Brazee  not  to  let  that 
worry  him  for  he  would  see  to  it  that  he  got  a  cow  and  that  he 
would  put  him  in  the  way  of  easily  paying  for  it.  Brazee  was 
delighted  with  his  success,  for  it  was  like  getting  money  from 
home. 

In  a  few  days,  Brazee  went  to  "Maalwyck"  and  Air.  Toll 
showed  him  the  cows,  mentioning  the  prices  for  which  he  would 
sell  each  one.  Brazee  picked  out  a  fine  cow  and  started  for  home 
with  it.  Mr.  Toll  too  started  for  Schenectady,  and  when  he  reached 
the  village,  he  obtained  a  writ  and  a  judgment  against  Brazee. 
Brazee  was  not  as  breezy  as  when  he  started  with  the  cow  for 
home.  He  whined  and  referred  to  his  poverty  and  told  Mr.  Toll 
that  he  expected  to  be  put  in  the  way  of  easily  paying  for  the 
cow.  Mr.  Toll  replied  that  making  the  payment  easy,  was  exactly 
what  he  was  doing.  Having  got  the  better  of  Brazee,  by  making 
him  pay  for  the  cow,  and  having  established  the  fact  that  he  was 
not  as  easily  worked,  as  the  cow  was  paid  for,  he  wished,  indi- 
rectly, to  return  the  money  to  Brazee ;  so  he  went  to  his  tavern, 
invited  the  villagers  to  come  in  and  be  his  guests.  He  then 
ordered  food  and  drink,  till  the  cost  of  his  hospitality  was  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  cost  of  the  cow. 

The  vast  fertile  river-flats  and  the  pasture-land,  on  the 
highest  and  oldest  of  the  old  river-terraces,  became  the  property 


Toll. 


221 


of  his  son.  Captain  Daniel  Toll,  after  the  death  of  Karel  Haensen 
Toll.  In  addition  to  the  lands  previously  mentioned,  Karel  Toll 
had  purchased  a  considerable  property,  then  called,  and  still 
known,  as  Beukendaal — or  lieech-dale — where,  in  the  ravine — 
which,  on  account  of  its  numerous  great  beech-trees,  gave  the 
property  its  name — he  was  later  to  be  killed  by  French  Indians. 
Xot  French  and  Indians,  as  some  writers  have  made  it  appear, 
but  French  Indians,  that  is,  Indians  of  the  French  possessions  in 
Canada. 

This  property  is  charmingly  located  at  the  foot  of  the  Glen- 
ville  hills,  near  Hardin's  crossing,  facing  south-west.  The  house 
was  situated  on  the  brow  of  a  miniature  bluff.  In  front  is  fertile 
fiat-land,  eight  hundred  feet  wide;  it  is,  in  fact,  a  little  valley, 
running  east  and  west  for  two  or  three  miles.  A  little  stream 
flows  through  the  door-yard  just  to  the  east  of  the  house — in 
those  days  it  was  a  vigorous  stream ;  but  now,  in  the  dry  season, 
thanks   to   the   cutting  off   of  the   timber,   it   almost   disappears. 


r**^^SZ- 


Ravine  on    Toll   Plate. 


2  2  2 


o/(/  Schenectady. 


This  stream  enters  a  picturesque  gorge,  half  a  mile  above  tin- 
house,  and  is  frequently  broken  up  into  cascades  and  tumbling, 
rushing  rapids.  It  was  on  this  stream,  on  the  high  bank  at  the 
left  of  the  picture,  on  the  preceding  page,  that  the  last  permanent 
camp  of  the  Mohawks  was  situated.  A  few  of  the  great  pines  and 
oaks  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  are  still  standing  and  give  one  a  faint 
idea  of  the  beauty  of  the  old  forest,  with  the  tumbling  stream, 
when  Captain  Daniel  Toll  chose  Beukendaal  for  his  home.  Captain 
Toll  was  born  in  July,  [691,  and  in  September,  1717.  he  married 
Gritje,  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Arentse  Bradt,  son  of  the  original 
settler  of  that  name,  and  immediately  began  to  build  the  large 
stone  house  upon  the  site  described.  All  that  is  left  of  this  fine  old 
home  are  two  doors  and  their  jambs,  one  bearing  the  initials  and 
numerals;  "P   T.  1717,"  on  the  lintel. 


i^ftS***- 


©li      Stone    h'cu&.-    a 


This  stone  house  resembled  the  English,  more  than  the 
Dutch  style  of  architecture.  It  was  divided  in  two  by  a  wide  hall, 
passing  through  the  house  from  front  to  back,  and  had  Dutch 
half-doors  at  either  entrance.  Being  on  the  brow  of  the  bluff, 
there  was  a  basement,  containing  the  kitchen,   store-rooms  and 


Toll.  223 

several  living-rooms,  as  well  finished  as  were  the  rooms  above, 
which  were  large,  homelike  and  comfortable.  In  this  house, 
Captain  Daniel  and  his  young  wife  lived  happily  and  industri- 
ously and  became  the  parents  of  seven  children — all  oi  whom 
died  before  1750.  One  of  the  daughters  married  the  famous 
Dutch  pastor,  the  Rev.  Cornelius  Van  Santvoord.  Captain 
Daniel's  wife  died  in  1743  and  he  and  his  family  moved  to  the 
second  home  of  the  Toll  family,  at  Maalwyck.  This  was  no 
doubt  chiefly  decided  upon  as  being  nearer  the  settlement  and 
safe — the  French  and  Indian  War  beginning  in  that  year.  Pour 
years  later,  in  |ulv,  1748,  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Captain  Daniel 
Toll  was  the  first  victim  of  the  Beukendaal  fight,  described  in 
another  chapter.  He  left  a  large  estate  and  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion, as  an  inheritance  to  his  son.  Johannes  Toll,  whose  life  was 
very  short.  Johannes  was  born  in  August.  1710.  in  the  Beuken- 
daal home.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  married  Eve  Van 
Patten,  and  in  December.  1740,  when  but  twenty-seven  years 
old.  he  died,  survived  by  his  wife,  and  but  one  child,  ECare' 
llaensen,  an  infant,  of  ten  months. 

This  second  Karel  became  prominent  in  the  community  and, 
at  the  youthful  age  of  seventeen,  he.  as  a  freeholder,  in  1703. 
signed  the  petition  for  the  charter  granted  by  Governor  Dongan ; 
that  charter  which  was  the  foundation  of  the  ninety  years  of 
law  suits,  brought  by  the  two  Ryer  Schermerhorns,  grandfather 
and  grandson. 

This  second  Karel  Haensen  in  January,  1708.  married  a 
daughter  of  Philip  Ryley,  of  Albany,  brother  of  James  Van  Slyck 
Riley,  who  was  postmaster  and  associate  judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Schenectady  and  was  frequently  in  the  service 
of  the  Government,  as  Indian  Commissioner  and  interpreter,  to 
negotiate  treaties  with  the  Indians  of  the  far  north-west.  Ik- 
was  sheriff  of  Schenectady  County,  for  many  years. 

Karel  Toll  and  his  young  wife,  immediately  after  their 
marriage,  went  to  live  in  the  fine  old  stone  house  on  the  Beuken- 


224 


Old  Schenectady. 


daal  property,  where  they  kept  open  house  and  were  famous  for 
their  hosptiality  during  their  long-  married  life  of  sixtv-four 
years.  Mr.  Toll  was  possessed  of  the  family  energy  and  of  high 
principles.     Like  his  name-sake,  he  was  a  man  of  unchanging 


Philip   Ryley    Silver   Tea    Set   in    the    Toll   Hon 


determination;  once  his  loyalty  was  given,  it  remained  steadfast 
as  a  matter  of  principle.  This  quality  was  shown  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution.  His  sympathies  were  with  the  rebels,  but  his 
loyalty  to  his  king,  he  believed,  prevented  his  taking  an  active 
part  on  the  side  of  the  colonists.  So,  while  he  felt  that  to  take 
up  arms  against  the  king  would  be  treason,  he  believed  that  it 
was  his  duty  to  give  his  sympathy  and  what  aid  he  conscientiously 
could  to  his  rebelling  fellow-countrymen.  It  required  a  man  of 
unusual  personal  magnetism  and  of  undoubted  honesty  of  pur- 
pose to  retain  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  Tory  friends  and 
rebel  countrymen;  but  this  he  did  and  he  died  at  the  great  age  of 
eighty-six  years,  respected  and  regretted. 

His  admirable  wife,  Elizabeth  Ryley  Toll,  was  a  noble 
woman  ;  her  charity  and  charities  made  her  name  blessed  among 
the  people.  The  following  incident  illustrates  her  goodness  and, 
at  the  same  time,  her  high  spirit — tempered  with  gentleness — 
when  she  felt  she  had  been  ill-treated.  One  autumn,  a  family  was 
driving  to  settle  in  the  far-west.     A  heavy  snow-storm  overtook 


Toll. 


225 


them,  and  when  they  had  gone  as  far  on  their  way  as  the  Beuken- 
daal  place,  the  storm  was  so  severe  that  they  could  go  no  further. 
The  doors  of  Beukendaal  were  open  to  them  and  in  the  morning, 
ii  was  seen  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  continue  their 
journey.  The  house  was  well-filled  by  the  family;  but  Airs.  Toll 
insisted  upon  their  remaining  till  the  weather  and  track  through 
the  forest  were  such  that  they  could  continue.  Mrs.  Toll  gave 
them  possession  of  the  basement-apartments  and  their  horses 
were  well  cared-for  in  the  stables.  All  this  was  without  remun- 
eration of  any  kind.  The  family  remained  through  the  autumn 
and  winter  and  in  the  spring,  when  the  conditions  for  journeying 
became  favorable,  they  started.  The  great  covered  wagon  was 
drawn  up  in  front  of  the  house.  One  after  another,  they  mounted 
the  wagon,  with  never  a  word  of  appreciation  or  of  thanks  for 
the  generous  old-time  hospitality  they  had  received.  As  they 
were  about  to  start,  Airs.  Toll's  sense  of  justice  and  her  righteous 
indignation  found  vent  in  the  biting  but  gentle  sarcasm  of:  "Good 
bye,  I  thank  you  for  the  good  you  have  let  me  do  you." 

Although  the  French  and  Indian  war  was  twenty  years  back, 
in  history,  when  Karel  Toll  and  his  wife  went  to  live  at  Beuken- 
daal, there  was  still  intense  dread  of  Indians ;  and  especially  fear- 
some were  they  to  the  women,  who  were  generally  left  alone  in 
the  house,  while  their  husbands  were  in  the  fields  or  attending  to 
other  business.  There  was  a  well  near  the  house  in  which  Airs. 
Toll  frequently  hid,  when  alone  and  when  Indians  were  about; 
and,  on  many  occasions,  she  and  her  little  ones  hid  in  the  great 
hay-loft  of  the  barn,  while  the  Indians  were  prowling  about 
below.  The  well  was  often  shown  to  her  grandchildren  by  Mrs. 
Toll,  when  she  told  them  stories  of  the  occasions  upon  which  she 
had  got  into  it,  to  hide  and  it  was  regarded  by  them  with  awe. 

Karel  Haensen  and  Elizabeth  Rylev  Toll  were  fully  aware 
of  the  necessity  for  and  the  advantages  of  a  good  education  ;  so 
they  gave  it  to  their  children.  Their  sons,  John  C.  and  Philip, 
were  both  college  graduates — the  former  entering  the  ministry 


226  Old  Schenectady. 

and  the  latter,  the  practice  of  medicine.  Philip,  however,  became 
smitten  with  the  "Star  of  Empire,"  so  deeply,  that  he  abandoned 
his  profession  to  follow  it,  in  its  westward  course  and  to  become 
a  pioneer  of  the  far-west — his  wife,  of  course,  going  with  him. 
Mrs.  Toll  was  a  daughter  of  Judge  Isaac  DeGraaf,  who  was  also 
a  major  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  It  was  Judge  Toll's  son  and 
her  brother,  who  provided  the  means  for  fitting  out  Commodore 
McDonough's  fleet,  in  the  war  of  1812.  In  fact,  Mr.  Toll,  her 
husband,  was  also  an  officer  in  the  War  of  1812,  he  being  captain 
of  a  company  of  mounted  artillery.  Captain  Toll's  company  was 
selected  by  General  Wade  Hampton,  for  headquarters  guard,  on 
account  of  its  military  excellence  and  its  fine  appearance.  Isaac 
DeGraaf  Toll,  a  son  of  Philip  Ryley  and  Xancey  DeGraaf  Toll, 
was  a  brilliant  and  distinguished  general  in  the  Mexican  War. 
He  is  still  living,  at  a  great  age,  in  the  west. 

The  Rev.  John  C.  Toll,  the  elder  son  of  the  second  Karel 
Haensen  Toll,  inherited  the  Beukendaal  property.  He  studied  for 
the  church,  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Solomon  Froeleigh,  of  Hacken- 
sack,  and  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
on  January  31,  1802  and,  the  following  year,  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Dutch  Churches  of  Westerlo  and  Middletown, 
where  he  and  his  wife,  Nancy,  daughter  of  Parent  Mynderse,  of 
Guilderland,  lived  on  the  farm  that  he  had  purchased,  tdl  1822. 
They  resided  there  for  nineteen  happy  years,  surrounded  by  their 
friends  and  their  books  and  cultivating  the  farm  successfully — 
an  ability,  inherited  from  his  forefathers,  by  Mr.  Toll.  In  1822, 
the  failing  health  of  his  father,  the  second  Karel,  caused  him  to 
resign  and  return  to  Beukendaal,  where  his  presence  was  needed. 
On  account  of  failing  health — the  result  of  a  college-illness,  Rev. 
Mr.  Toll  decided  to  not  preach  again,  regularly.  He  preached 
in  both  English  and  Dutch. 

At    Beukendaal.    the    Reverend    and    Mrs.    Toll    passed    a 


Toll. 


227 


pleasant,  happy  life ;  happy  in  their  home  and  their  children ;  he, 
finding  congenial  companionship  among  the  professors  of  Union 
College  and  the  pastors  of  Schenectady.  He  died  in  1849  and 
his  wife,  in  1859.  Their  son,  Philip  Ryley  Toll,  the  second  of  the 
name — he  heing  named  for  his  uncle  the  physician  who  went 
west — inherited  Beukendaal,  which  is  still  owned  by  the  family, 
making  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  years  that  it  has  been  in 
the  family. 


If'ashington  Platter  in    Toll  Ho 


Chapter  XV. 


SCHERMERHORN. 

T  a  time  so  remote  that  the  "Ancient  City"  of  Schenec- 
tady seems  a  mere  infant  in  comparison,  the  village 
of  Schermerhorn,  whence  came  the  Schermerhorns  of 
Schenectady  County,  existed  and  flourished  and  had 
its  traditions. 

Schermerhorn  is  located  in  the  Province  of  North 
Holland  and  lies  between  the  dry  beds  of  two  lakes 
called,  "Beemter"  and  "Schermer."  These  lakes 
were  pumped  dry  in  the  seventeenth  century,  probably 
for  agricultural  purposes.  Before  this  was  done,  the  chief  occu- 
pation of  the  people  of  the  village  was  fishing  in  these  extensive 
lakes.     Xow  the  population  is  agricultural. 

Soon  after  the  advent  of  the  year  1400,  the  people  of  Scher- 
merhorn and  those  of  a  village  across  the  lakes,  were  frequently 
involved  in  disputes  of  a  serious  nature.  Finally,  when  the 
difficulties  seemed  to  be  amicably  settled,  the  people  of  Schermer- 
horn were  displeased  over  the  interpretation  of  the  agreement 
between  the  two  villages.  They  were  never  satisfied  with  the 
rights  they  had  obtained  and  were  continually  "burrowing"  in 
to  the  matter  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  Haw  or,  by  digging  in  to  the 
subject  more  deeply,  to  find  a  way  out  of  what  they  believed  to  be 
injustice  to  them.  This  habit  gave  them  the  nickname  of  "The 
Burrowers,"  a  designation  of  which  the  people  were  proud,  for 
it  showed  their  unwillingness  to  be  treated  with  injustice,  as  well 
as  their  persistence  and  determination.  To  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  this  quality,  they  chose  for  their  emblem  a  mole,  that 
little  animal  being  the  greatest  of  "burrowers."  This  emblem 
was  well  known  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,   but   it  was  not 


230  Old  Schenectady. 

recognized  as  the  coat-of-arms  of  Schermerhorn,  by  the  High 
Council  of  the  Nobility,  till  October,  1817.  This  High  Council 
is  a  body  appointed  by  the  Crown  to  keep  the  records  of  the 
nobility  of  Holland  and  to  authorize  and  register  coats-of-arms  of 
municipalities  and  of  families. 

The  chief  object  of  interest  in  the  modern  village  of  Scher- 
merhorn, is  the  beautiful  Dutch  Reformed  Church  that  was  built 
in  1634.  It  is  of  pure  Gothic  architecture  and  has  very  fine 
stained  glass  windows.  The  church  was  renovated  in  1894,  one 
of  the  largest  contributors  to  the  fund  for  that  purpose  being 
Mr.  William  Schermerhorn,  of  New  York  city.  There  is  a  tablet 
set  into  the  wall  of  the  church  when  it  was  built,  which  shows 
the  mole  as  the  coat-of-arms  of  Schermerhorn.  This  shows  a 
shield  with  a  mole,  sable,  on  a  natural  color,  probably  green. 

The  Schermerhorn  family  is  not  only  one  of  the  oldest  in 
Schenectady,  but  in  the  State.     Jacob  Janse  Schermerhorn,  the 

fi  r  s  t  American 
ancestor,  came 
while  still  a 
young  man,  to 
the  Dutch  pos- 
sessions in  the 
New  World 
from  Waterland, 

Silver  Mounted  Pistol  in   the   Schermerhorn   Mansion. 

Holland,  where 
he  was  born  in  1622.  He  settled  in  Beverwyck,  now  Albany 
County,  and  started  in  almost  immediately  as  a  money  maker, 
his  occupation  being  that  of  brewer  and  Indian  trader. 

His  business  ability  and  great  prosperity  apparently  dis- 
pleased and  alarmed  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  so  a  charge 
was  preferred  against  him  of  selling  arms  and  ammunition  to  the 
Indians.  It  is  probable  that  he  did  sell  to  the  Indians,  for  that 
was  a  part  of  the  trade  with  them  and  was  nothing  more  than 
the  Dutch  Company  was  doing,  the  trouble  being  that  that  com- 
pany wished  to  keep  all  the  good  things  to  itself.    He  was  arrested 


Schermerhorn.  231 

by  order  of  Governor  Stuyvesant  in  1648,  and  imprisoned  in 
Fort  Amsterdam.  All  of  his  papers  and  books  were  destroyed 
and  he  was  sentenced  to  the  entire  loss  of  all  the  wealth  which 
his  energy  and  keenness  in  business  had  accumulated  and  to 
banishment  from  the  Colony  for  a  term  of  five  years.  It  is  quite 
evident  from  the  action  taken  by  them,  that  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors regarded  his  arrest  and  punishment,  for  the  crime  of  making 
money  rapidly,  as  unjust,  as  it  really  was,  for  many  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens  took  the  matter  up,  and,  although  his  property 
was  not  restored  to  him,  once  it  got  into  the  hands  of  the  Colonial 
authorities,  his  term  of  banishment  was  remitted.  It  was  then 
that  he  showed  the  Schermerhorn  determination — a  quality  which 
was  even  magnified  in  some  of  his  descendants — for  instead  of 
being  disheartened,  or  going  to  some  other  place  or  Colony,  he 
remained  and  began  all  over  again  to  accumulate  a  fortune.  He 
died  in  1689  leaving  a  fortune  of  $22,000,  as  much  in  those  clays 
as  five  times  the  sum  would  be  now.  His  death  occurred  in 
Schenectady  where  he  had  lived  for  several  years.  Of  his  three 
sons,  Ryer,  Simon  and  Jacob,  the  first  was  the  only  one  who 
settled  in  Schenectady  permanently. 

Ryer  Schermerhorn  (the  name  in  Holland  was  written, 
Schermer  Home)  married  the  widow  of  Helmer  Otten.  She  was 
Ariaantje  Bratt,  of  Esopus.  Airs.  Otten  was  possessed  of  con- 
siderable property,  in  the  Colony  and  in  Holland,  from  her 
former  husband  Helmer  Otten.  As  was  the  custom  in  those  days 
before  marrying  again,  she  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the 
guardians  of  her  children  to  secure  to  them  their  share  of  their 
father's  property. 

Although  Ryer  Schermerhorn  was  not  one  of  the  Original 
Fifteen  Proprietors  of  1662,  he  was  one  of  the  five  named  in  the 
Schenectady  Patent  of  1684. 

The  reason  for  the  patent  of  1684  from  Governor  Dongon 
was  this :  The  Fifteen  Original  Proprietors  had  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  land  by  deed  from  the  real  owners  of  it,  the  Mohawk 
Indians  and  if  the  Colony  had  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 


232 


Old  Schenectady. 


Dutch,  any  further  evidence  of  right  to  the  land  might  not  have 
heen  necessary.  The  Colony,  however,  passed  into  the  possession 
of  Britain  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  complications  would 
arise  in  regard  to  titles,  hence,  the  necessity  for  a  patent.  In  1690 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  and  a  justice  of  the 


Pear  Tree  ISO   Years  Old,   set  out  by   Engeltje   Bradt,   Daughter  of  Arent  "Bradt. 

peace  and  in  1700,  he  was  appointed  assistant  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  all  of  which  shows  that  he  was  a  man  of  affairs 
and  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  the  community.  When  the 
year  1700  opened,  Ryer  Schermerhorn  was  the  only  survivor  of 
the  five  original  patentees.  He  remained  as  such  till  1714  and 
this  fact  gave  rise  to  a  heated  contest  between  himself  and  the 
people  of  Schenectady,  who  accused  him  of  acting  in  an  arbitrary 
manner  over  the  affairs  of  the  settlement  and  of  high-handedness 
in  refusing  to  give  an  account  of  his  doings  to  them. 

The  patent  of  Schenectady  included  about  80,000  acres,  the 
affairs  of  which  were  absolutely  in  the  control  of  the  five 
patentees  and  their  heirs  and  successors.     In   1700,  when  Ryer 


Schermerhorn.  233 

Schermerhorn  was  the  sole  surviving"  patentee  the  people  objected 
to  being  under  the  control  of  one  man.  They  said  that  he 
disposed  of  the  public  lands  belonging  to  the  village  without 
giving  any  account  of  the  transactions,  so  they  petitioned  for  a 
new  patent  in  October,  1702,  which  should  give  them  the  right  to 
elect  five  trustees  to  serve  three  years,  who  should  be  required  to 
render  an  accounting  of  their  trust  to  their  successors.  This 
patent  was  granted  in  February  of  the  following  year  and  Colonel 
Peter  Schuyler,  John  S.  Glen,  Adam  Vrooman  and  John  Wemp 
were  made  trustees  to  serve  with  Ryer  Schermerhorn.  J  hit  the 
Schermerhorn  determination  asserted  itself.  Ryer  utterly  disre- 
garded the  new  patent,  claiming  to  be  the  sole  trustee  of  the 
village.  He  continued  to  receive  the  rents  and  other  profits  of 
the  town  and  brought  suits  in  the  courts  in  his  own  name  with- 
out giving  any  account  to  the  people.  Even  the  fact  that  he  was 
suspended  by  the  Governor  -made  no  difference  with  him.  He 
fell  back  upon  the  authority  of  the  Patent  of  1684,  which  was 
really  binding  notwithstanding  the  granting  of  the  Patent  of 
1703.  He  knew  that  the  old  patent  gave  to  the  five  trustees,  their 
beirs  and  assigns  forever,  the  control  of  the  land  and,  as  survivor, 
he  intended  to  live  up  to  the  rights  secured  to  him  in  that 
patent.  From  the  standpoint  of  Ryer  Schermerhorn  and  by  pre- 
cedent, he  was  right.  But  the  germ  of  that  great  principle  of 
"government  of  the  people  by  the  people  for  the  people"  although 
not  expressed  in  words  till  many  years  later,  was  beginning  to 
take  root,  probably  without  any  suspicion  of  that  fact  by  those 
most  interested. 

The  people,  seeing  that  the  determination  of  Ryer  Schermer- 
horn was  based  upon  solid  foundations,  petitioned,  by  two  of  the 
new  trustees,  Col.  Schuyler  and  John  S.  Glen,  for  an  annual 
election  of  trustees  with  a  more  strict  provision  requiring  an 
accounting  of  their  proceedings.  This  petition  was  granted  and 
a  new  charter  was  given  in  April,  1705,  with  Ryer  Schermer- 
horn's  name  not  among  the  trustees.  In  1704  the  Governor  and 
Council  gave  a  hearing  to  Mr.  Schermerhorn.    He  was  suspended 


234  Old  Schenectady. 

as  a  trustee  but  this  mattered  little  to  him.  He  disregarded  the 
action  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  insisted  that  he  was  the  only 
trustee,  and  persisted  in  refusing  to  render  an  accounting,  so  in 
July,  1705,  the  new  trustees  began  a  suit  in  the  Chancery  Court 
against  him.  This  suit  was  the  first  of  a  series  brought  by  both 
sides  for  a  period  of  nearly  one  hundred  years,  the  second  Ryer 
Schermerhorn,  a  grandson  of  the  first,  continuing  the  contest 
till  his  death,  in  1795,  but  not  one  of  them  was  ever  finished. 
Ryer  brought  a  counter  suit  against  the  trustees  John  S.  Glen, 
Adam  Vrooman,  Daniel  J.  Van  Antwerp  and  John  B.  Van  Eps. 
The  trustees,  weary  with  the  contest,  attempted  to  affect  a  com- 
promise but  without  success  and  an  appeal  to  the  Colonial  Legis- 
lature also  failed  to  accomplish  anything. 

In  1714.  Schermerhorn,  on  October  22  and  23,  by  lease  and 
release,  conveyed  his  title  to  William  Appel  of  New  York — Appel 
kept  a  tavern  in  that  city — with  the  understanding  that  he,  Appel, 
should  reconvey  the  lands  to  Ryer  Schermerhorn,  Jan  Wemp, 
Johannes  Teller,  Arent  Bradt,  and  Barent  Wemp.  This  was  done 
on  the  25th  and  26th  of  the  same  month  and  year.  To  confirm 
this  conveyance,  Governor  Hunter  granted  the  fourth  charter,  on 
November  14,  1714.  This  grant  was  practically  the  same  as  that 
of  1684,  the  township  in  both  patents  being  granted  to  Ryer 
Schermerhorn  and  his  associates,  their  heirs,  successors  and 
assigns.  These  conveyances  settled  for  a  time  the  controversy 
over  the  management  of  the  common  lands. 

In  1750  Jan  Schermerhorn,  a  son  of  Ryer,  who  died  in  17 19, 
claimed  that  all  who  were  freeholders  of  Schenectady  when  the 
Dongan  Patent  was  granted  in  1684,  had  equal  title  in  the  com- 
mon lands.  This  meant  that  only  those  would  inherit  who  were 
descentled  from  the  first  settlers  in  the  male  line  of  eldest  sons, 
for  at  this  time  the  law  of  primogeniture  was  in  force.  There 
were,  when  this  claim  was  set  up,  but  twenty-seven  eldest  sons 
who  were  legal  heirs.  The  death  of  Jan  Schermerhorn  in  1752, 
before  legal  action  had  been  brought,  ended  this  claim. 

But  this  death  did  not  end  the  contest,  for  Jan  left  a  son, 


Schermerhorn.  235 

another  Ryer  Schermerhorn,  who  had  all  of  the  devotion  to 
purpose  and  the  determination  for  which  the  family  was  noted. 
He  began  suit  against  Arent  Bradt  and  others  as  patentees,  in 
1755,  for  his  share  in  the  common  lands  which  he  claimed  were 
his  by  inheritance  from  his  grandfather,  the  first  Ryer.  For 
forty-one  years  he  fought  for  what  he  believed  to  be  his  rights 
and  died  in  1795  with  the  struggle  unfinished.  So  strongly  did 
he  feel  upon  the  subject  that  he  willed  the  contest  to  his  heirs 
with  the  penalty  of  disinheritance  should  they  fail  to  continue  it. 

This  second  Ryer  retained  Judge  James  Duane,  of  glorious 
memory,  as  his  attorney.  Judge  Duane  told  his  client  that  a 
document  in  the  hands  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Appel,  living  in 
New  York  city,  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  his  case,  but 
for  it  to  be  of  use,  it  must  be  in  Albany  within  eight  days. 
Between  Albany  and  New  York  was  nothing  but  a  wilderness 
with  here  and  there  an  Indian  trail,  and  the  Hudson  river.  To 
make  the  journey  to  New  York  and  back  through  the  woods,  in 
eight  days,  was  utterly  impossible  and  the  river  craft  were  far  too 
slow.  No  Schermerhorn  had  yet  been  beaten  by  difficulties  and 
this  member  of  the  family  decided  that  the  journey  could  and 
should  be  made  in  one  of  the  light  and  graceful  birchbark  canoes 
of  the  Indians,  with  his  muscle  and  will  as  the  motive  power,  so 
he  started  alone,  obtained  the  document  and  was  in  Albany  again 
before  the  expiration  of  the  eight  days.  It  is  a  most  unfortunate 
thing  for  the  present  generation  that  Mr.  Schermerhorn  wrote 
no  account  of  his  trip.  As  he  was  a  man  who  did  things  without 
talking  about  them,  one  of  the  most  interesting  journeys  of  the 
early  days  is  left  to  the  imagination. 

Another  instance  of  the  irresistible  will  possessed  by  these 
men,  was  shown  in  even  a  more  striking  manner  by  Simon 
Schermerhorn,  one  of  the  first  Ryer's  brothers.  Simon  and  his 
family  lived  in  the  village  at  the  time  the  French  and  Indians 
destroyed  it  and  butchered  the  greater  portion  of  its  inhabitants, 
that  bitterly  cold  night  in  the  winter  of  1690.  Simon  was  shot 
through  the  thigh  in  the  fight  and  realizing  that  someone  must 
give  the  alarm  to  Albany  he  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  pellmell. 


236  Old  Schenectady. 

notwithstanding  that  every  jolt  in  the  saddle  caused  the  greatest 
agony.  He  started  by  the  regular  path,  over  what  is  now  the 
Albany  turnpike,  but  when  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Stan- 
ford place  he  heard  what  he  supposed  to  be  Indians,  so  he 
turned  off  and  took  the  longer  way  through  Niskayuna,  fearing 
that  his  capture  or  death  would  delay  the  carriage  of  the  news 
to  Albany  so  long  that  help  from  the  fort  would  be  too  late. 

The  following  verses  were  written  by  Aaron  B.  Pratt,  of 
Albany,  on  the  historical  ride  of  Simon  Schermerhorn,  who, 
wounded  and  suffering  from  the  cold  of  midwinter,  rode  to 
Albany,  twenty  miles,  to  give  the  alarm  on  the  night  of  the 
Massacre. 

Silent  and  cold  old  Mohawk's  tide 
Swept  through  the  forest,  dark  and  wide, 
When  on  her  bank,  amid  the  wood, 
Schenectady's  rude  hamlet  stood. 

'Twas  midnight  in  that  ancient  town ; 
The  drifting  snow  was  coming  down, 
The  people  all  were  wrapt  in  sleep, 
Xo  sentinel  there  to  vigils  keep. 

The  winter's  thick  mantle  was  outspread 
To  break  the  sound  of  hostile  tread, 
And  while  they  slept,  no  dream  of  harm, 
Like  lightning  came  the  dread  alarm, 

More  fearful  than  the  shriek  of  shell 
Broke  on  the  air  a  savage  yell. 
With  horror,  dread,  each  Dutchman  woke 
To  meet  alike  the  deadly  stroke. 

Butchered  and  brained,  consumed  by  fire, 
The  heartless  horde  wreaked  vengeance  dire; 
The  French  and  Indians  both  allied, 
To  spread  destruction  far  and  wide. 

No  age  or  sex  these  demons  spared 
But  all  alike  their  vengeance  shared ; 
Babes  in  innocence  yet  unborn, 
Were  from  the  womb  untimely  torn. 


Schermerhom.  237 

One  man  there  was,  oh  Dutchman  brave ! 
Who  managed  there  his  life  to  save, 
And  means  at  hand  he  quickly  found 
To  spread  th 'alarm  the  country  round. 

He  quickly  mounts  a  straying  steed 
By  fate  provided  for  his  need ; 
With  ne'er  a  saddle,  bridle,  rein, 
The  nearest  town  he  seeks  to  gain. 

He  bravely  faced  the  jaws  of  death 

Its  sickening  glow  and  sulphrus  breath  ; 

And  ne'er  a  rider  rode  so  well 

As  rode  he  through  the  gate  of  hell. 

Shot  through  the  thigh,  he  heeded  not, 
The  heartless  foeman's  cruel  shot ; 
His  wounded  steed  made  bold  essay, 
To  bear  his  rider  from  the  fray. 

Tho'  wounded  sore  and  nearly  dead, 
Each  nerve  he  strained  and  forged  ahead ; 
And  in  the  forest  dread  and  drear, 
Rider  and  horse  did  disappear. 

Knee  deep  the  snow,  and  drifting  down, 
And  twenty  miles  to  nearest  town  ; 
Old  Albany  the  destined  place 
For  which  our  hero  made  this  race. 

Ere  morning  broke  he  reached  the  fort 
And  quickly  made  his  sad  report ; 
Cannon  took  up  the  wild  alarm, 
And  warning  sent  o're  field  and  farm. 

The  people  all  with  one  accord 

Fell  on  their  knees  and  thanked  the  Lord 

That  he  had  sent  a  spirit  brave 

To  warning  bring,  their  lives  to  save. 

Simon   Schermerhorn,  our  hero's  name 
Ne'er  filled  the  sounding  trumps  of  fame ; 
Tho'  wounded,  weak  and  out  of  breath, 
He  rode  this  race  of  life  and  death. 


238  Old  Schenectady. 

Eclipsing  Sheriden's  famous  ride, 
To  check  the  battle's  bloody  tide ; 
Or  even  that  of  Paul  Revere, 
That  roused  the  Nation's  lusty  cheer. 


As  far  as  is  known  these  are  the  only  verses  on  Schermer- 
horn's  ride  that  have  been  published. 

While  there  are  several  properties  now  occupied  by  lineal 
descendants  of  the  original  owners,  the  Schermerhorn  family  is 
probably  unique  in  that  the  property  has  been  occupied  by  the 
family  without  change  of  name  for  240  years,  the  present  owners 
being  of  the  eighth  generation. 

The  home  of  the  late  Simon  J.  Schermerhorn,  Congressman, 
is  charmingly  situated  on  a  terrace  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back  from 
the  Mohawk  river  and  sixty  feet  above  it,  at  the  foot  of  a  bluff 
rising  from  the  rear  of  the  grounds.  The  outlook  is  toward  the 
south-east.  Over  the  river  bottoms  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Mohawk  a  fine  view  of  the  city  of  Schenectady  is  had  and  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Mohawk,  the  view  extends  over  the  river  bottoms 
including  "Maalwyck,"  the  "Camp"  and  village  of  Scotia  beyond 
to  the  pretty  Glenville  hills.  A  little  distance  further  back  from 
the  Mohawk,  at  the  foot  of  the  Rotterdam  hills,  are  the  residences 
of  other  members  of  the  family. 

Had  Congressman  Schermerhorn  not  inherited  the  character- 
istics of  "digging  deep"  into  important  matters  and  of  persisting 
in  so  doing — characteristics  inherited  from  his  remarkable  ances- 
tors, the  two  Ryer  Schermerhorns,  grandfather  and  grandson, 
which  they,  in  turn,  came  by  naturally  from  the  village  of 
Schermerhorn,  in  Holland — Schenectady  would  not  now  have 
the  supply  of  delicious,  pure  spring  water  which  it  has.  These 
wells  were  dug  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff,  near  the  Mohawk,  but  this 
was  not  done  till  Congressman  Schermerhorn  had  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  an  effort  to  convince  skeptical  city  officials  and 
other  prominent  citizens  of  the  city,  that  an  ample  supply  of  pure 


Schermerhorn.  239 

spring  water  was  waiting  deep  down  in  the  ground  to  make 
Schenectady  famous  among  cities  for  its  unequalled  supply  of 
water. 


A  Silver  ijuart  Litter  Mug  marked 
Jatubus  Schermer  Hoorn. 


SCHERMERHORN-CAMPBELL. 

Daniel  Campbell  came  to  Schenectady  in  1754,  in  his  twenty- 
third  year,  with  a  tiny  cash  capital  and  an  immense  inherited 
capital,  consisting  of  energy,  determination  to  succeed,  honesty 
and  business  acumen,  all  characteristics  of  his  Scotch-Irish 
descent. 

Mr.  Campbell  began  his  business  career  with  a  pack  on  his 
hack  as  an  Indian  trader.  The  excellent  quality  of  his  goods, 
his  industry,  economy,  and  honesty  gave  him  patrons  which  so 
greatly  exceeded  his  individual  efforts  that  he  was  soon  obliged 
to  increase  his  capacity  to  handle  it  and,  at  the  same  time,  he 
increased  his  operations.  When  the  Revolution  broke  out,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  considerable  fortune.  After 
the  Revolution,  he,  with  James  Ellice,  John  Duncan  and  James 
Phyn,  became  one  of  the  greatest  merchants  and  wealthiest  men 
of  the  state.  As  a  merchant  in  Indian  trade,  and  by  purchasing 
"soldiers'  rights",  he  amassed  a  great  fortune. 

He  married  Angelica  Bradt,  a  daughter  of  Arent  S.  Bradt 
(or  Bratt,  as  the  name  was  then  sometimes  spelled)  and  had  one 
son,  David  Campbell,  who  was  born  in  1768.  David  died  in 
June,  1 801,  leaving  his  property  to  his  father.    Daniel  Campbell, 


Schermerhorn.  241 

Sr.,  died  in  the  following  year  at  the  age  of  seventy-one.  One- 
third  of  his  great  wealth  was  left  to  relatives  in  Ireland,  the 
remainder  going  absolutely  to  his  wife. 

Mr.  Campbell  and  Sir  William  Johnson  were  warm  and  inti- 
mate friends  and  upon  the  occasions  when  Sir  William  was  in 
Schenectady  in  the  interests  of  St.  George's  Church,  or  on  other 
business,  Mr.  Campbell's  house  was  his  home  for  the  time  being. 
This  house  was  built  for  Mr.  Campbell  by  Samuel  Fuller,  in  1762, 
on  the  north-east  corner  of  State  and  Church  streets  where  it 
stands  now  as  solid  as  the  year  it  was  built.  There  have  been 
but  few  changes  made  in  the  house,  the  chief  ones  being  to  the 
roof.  In  1 77 1,  Mr.  Campbell  was  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  of  Albany  County,  of  which  Schenectady  was 
then  a  part. 

Mrs.  Campbell,  wishing  to  continue  the  name  in  America, 
left  all  of  her  great  wealth  to  Daniel  D.  Schermerhorn  on  condi- 
tion that  he  take  the  name  Campbell,  which  he  did  later  by  act  of 
the  Legislature.    Mrs.  Campbell  died  at  the  age  of  eighty,  in  1812. 


Chapter   XVI. 


YATES  HOUSE. 


HE  Abraham  Yates  house,  on  Union  street,  nearly 
opposite  the  Court  house,  is  an  excellent  example  of 
bmb,—  the  substantial  buildings  erected  by  well-to-do  citizens 
ill  from  1700  to  '50.  This  house  was  built  by  Mr.  Yates, 
TAX  about  1730,  and  is  in  perfect  condition,  at  the  present 
^^^n  time.  It  is  in  the  best  and  most  aristocratic  residential 
^L^r      part  of  Schenectady. 

W  The  Yates  family  is  one  of  the  tew  Anglo-Saxon 
£!bl  families  who  were  among  the  old  settlers.  The  firsl  of 
the  name  to  come  to  America,  was  Joseph  Yates,  who  arrived  soon 
after  the  Colony  was  delivered  to  the  British,  in  1664.  He 
worked  with  M.  J.  Van  Brommel,  in  Albany,  as  a  shoemaker. 
He  married  Hjbertje  Van  Brommel.  Mr.  Yates  died  in  1730,  and 
was  survived  by  seven  children,  one  of  whom,  Robert  Yates, 
settled  in  Schenectady,  in  171 1,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three. 
Robert  Yates  married  Greitje  C.  DeGraaf,  of  the  "Hoek,"  just 
west  of  Scotia,  where  he  lived  and  followed  his  father's  trade. 

He  had  a  village-lot  on  State  street,  near  Ferry  street  and  a 
rather  extensive  tannery  on  the  bank  of  the  pond,  at  the  end  of 
Ferry  street,  where  it  joined  Mill  lane.  He  had,  also,  farm-land 
on  the  flat,  where  the  General  Electric  Company's  works  are, 
which  was  part  of  the  Van  Curler  farm.  This  he  bought  in  1741. 
He  died  in  1748,  leaving  his  business  to  his  sons,  Joseph  and 
Abraham — the  latter,  selling  his  interest  to  the  former. 

The  men  of  the  Yates  family  were  prominent  in  the  Revolu- 
tion and  in  the  practice  of  law.  Robert,  a  grandson  of  the  first 
Robert  Yates,  who  settled  in  Schenectady,  in  1711,  was  born  in 
1738,  married  Jannetje  Van  Ness,  in  Albany,  in  1765,  where  he 
remained  to  practice  law.    This  Robert  Yates,  an  ardent  patriot, 


244  (^'t  Schenectady. 

was  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  in  Revolutionary  days ; 
a  member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention  of  1777;  of  the 
Federal  Convention  of  1787;  and  of  the  State  Convention  for 
ratifying  the  acts  of  the  Convention.  He  finally  attained  to  the 
distinguished  honor  of  the  chief-justiceship  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  New  York.  He  died  in  1801.  His  daughter  married  James 
Fairlee,  who  was  an  aid-de-camp  to  Baron  Steuben,  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. His  son,  John  Van  Ness  Yates,  was  Secretary  of  State, 
from  i8i8-'26. 

Robert  N.  Yates,  a  grandson  of  the  original  Yates  ancestor, 
was  born  in  1789.  He  was  lieutenant  in  the  Rifle  Regiment  in  the 
Regular  Army  in  the  War  of  1812,  in  which  he  was  killed. 
Christopher  Yates,  born  in  1737,  a  son  of  the  original  Albany 
Yates,  was  a  captain,  under  Sir  William  Johnson  and  a  colonel 
in  the  Revolution.  He  married  in  1761,  Jannetje,  a  daughter  of 
Andries  Bradt.  He  died  in  1785.  Colonel  Christopher  Yates' 
son,  Joseph  Yates,  was  born  in  1768.  He  was  the  first  mayor  of 
Schenectady;  State  Senator,  in  1807;  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  in  1808;  and  Governor  of  New  York,  in  i823~'24.  He 
died  in  1837.  Another  son  of  Colonel  Yates,  Henry  Yates,  was 
born  in  1791 .  He  was  a  lawyer;  State  Senator  for  several  terms, 
and  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appointment.  He  died  in  1854. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Andrew  Yates,  the  third  son  of  Colonel  Christopher 
Yates,  was  born  in  1773.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  in 
1793,  and  studied  for  the  ministry  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H. 
Livingston  and  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church.  He  was  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin,  in  Union  College, 
in  1797-01  ;  pastor  of  the  East  Hartford,  Connecticut,  Congre- 
gational Church  till  1814,  when  he  returned  to  Union  and  was 
professor  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  till  1825.  He  then, 
accepted  the  principalship  of  the  Chittenango  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute. He  died  in  1844.  Dr.  Yates  was  married  twice.  His  first 
wife  was  Mary  Austin  and  their  son,  John  A.  Yates,  was  born 
in  1 801.  He  was  professor  of  Oriental  Literature,  in  Union 
College,  from  1823  to  his  death,  in  1844.     Professor  Yates'  son, 


Yates. 


245 


J.  15.  Yates,  was  the  father  of  Austin  A.  Yates,  now  residing  on 
Washington  avenue,  Schenectady,  and  of  Commander  Arthur  R. 
Yates,  U.  S.  N. 

Of  the  several  titles  to  which  Austin  A.  Yates  has  a  right. 

that  of  "Major"  is  the  most  popular,  with  his  intimates;  for  it 
was  as  a  soldier  that  the  Yates  qualities  showed  themselves  most 
prominently ;  and  these  were  qualities  which  attracted  the  affec- 
tions and  admir- 
a  t  ion.  Hon. 
Austin  A.  Yates, 
like  his  prede- 
cessors men- 
tioned in  this 
article,  with  one 
exception,  was  a 
graduate  of  Un- 
ion College ;  he 
studied  law  and 
was  admitted  to 
practice ;  was 
judge  of  the 
County  Court, 
and  Member  of 
Assembly.  I  n 
the  Civil  War, 
he  was  captain 
of  H.  Co.,  One 
Hundred  a  n  d 
Thirty-f  o  u  r  t  h 
New  York  Vol- 
unteers    and. 

later,  he  was  captain  of  F.  Co.,  United  States  Veterans.  This  F. 
Co.  was  famous  as  being  the  one  chosen  to  have  custody  of  the 
persons  and  charge  of  the  execution,  of  the  assasins  of  President 
Lincoln.     He  was.  later,  promoted  to  the  rank  of  brevet-major 


One  of  the  Entrances  to  the  Residence  of  Hon.  A.  A .   Yates, 
on  Washington  Avenue. 


246  Old  Schenectady. 

of  the  U.  S.  V.  and,  on  April  9,  1898,  was  commissioned  major 
of  the  Second  Regiment,  N.  Y.  N.  G.,  for  service  in  the  Spanish- 
American  War. 

The  youngest  son  of  Colonel  Christopher  Yates,  John  E. 
Yates,  was  born  in  1784.  This  son  became  the  most  active  man 
of  affairs  in  the  military,  political  and  financial  interests  of  his 
State  of  any  member  of  the  family,  chiefly  because  the  times 
were  propitious  for  the  Yates  qualities  to  appear  at  the  front. 
After  being  graduated  with  honors  from  Union  College,  he 
studied  law  in  Albany,  with  his  elder  brother,  Henry,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1805.  In  the  second  war  with  the  "old 
country" — speaking  from  the  standpoint  of  an  Anglo-Saxon — he 
raised  a  large  company  of  horse-artillery  and  was  commissioned 
its  captain,  by  Governor  Tompkins.  Captain  Yates  and  his  com- 
pany served  in  the  campaign  of  1813,  under  General  Wade 
Hampton,  on  the  northern  frontier  of  New  York.  Hampton 
appointed  him  one  of  his  aids  and  sent  him  to  relieve  Fort  Erie, 
where  General  Brown  was  bottled-up  by  a  superior  force  of 
British.  After  the  war,  in  i8i5-'i6,  he  went  to  Congress  and 
took  as  active  a  part  in  the  civil  affairs  of  the  Nation  as  he  had  in 
the  military  affairs.  Mr.  Yates  was  possessed  of  an  extensive 
estate  and  great  wealth.  In  Chittenango,  his  home,  he  had  two 
thousand  acres  of  land,  on  which  were  flour,  oil,  lime,  and  saw- 
mills, a  woolen  factory,  stores  and  a  boat-yard  with  dry-dock, 
where  boats  were  built  and  overhauled.  His  pay-roll  often  had 
one  hundred  and  fifty  names  upon  it.  At  the  time  the  project  for 
the  Welland  canal  came  near  to  expiring,  for 
lack  of  the  life-giving  qualities  of  money,  Mr. 
Yates  stirred  up  enough  enthusiasm,  in  New 
York  and  in  England,  to  carry  the  project  to 
completion.  He  showed  his  faith  in  the  canal, 
for  which  he  was  asking  others  to  subscribe 
money,  by  investing  nearly  $150,000  of  his 
own.  He  was  the  first  judge  of  Madison 
County.     His  death  occurred  on  his  estate  in 

Old-time  Leather  Fire  Bucket        Q-./C 
owned  by  Hon.  A.  A.  Yates.     lO0°- 


Chapter  XVII. 
Educational. 


UNION  CLASSICAL  INSTITUTE. 

BUILDING   which   has   seen   more   of   the   ups   and 
A  downs  of  life  than  any  other  in  Schenectady,  was  that 

which  the  present  generation  knew  as  the  Union 
Classical  Institute,  on  the  corner  of  Union  and  Church 
streets,  which  was  recently  sold  to  the  Mohawk  club. 
This  building'  had  more  endearing  associations  con- 
nected with  it,  for  the  present  generation  and  its 
immediate  senior  generation,  than  any  other  in  the  city, 
for  it  was  for  years  the  scene  of  scholastic  triumphs  for 
one  thing,  and  of  scores  of  good-natured  dare-diviltry  and  school- 
boy escapades,  which  are  so  dear  to  the  memory  of  the  "old- 
fellows"  after  they  have  boys  of  their  own.  Besides  this,  there 
has  been  more  than  one  love  story  started  in  the  class  rooms  of 
this  old  building  which  has  ended  happily  in  the  ceremony  pre- 
sided over  by  the  minister. 

The  building  as  shown  in  the  picture,  was  erected  for 
the  home  of  the  Mohawk  bank  in  1820.  This  occupied  the  first 
floor,  with  the  upper  floors  as  a  residence  for  the  cashier,  David 
Boyd,  who  was  in  his  day  a  man  well  known  in  banking  circles  in 
and  out  of  the  city,  as  was  the  bank's  paying  teller,  Volney 
Freeman. 

Mr.  Boyd  was  a  short,  stocky  man  with  sandy  hair  and  florid 
complexion  who  was  wedded  to  his  bank.  It  was  his  wife,  his 
children ;  his  work  and  his  recreation,  for  he  was  a  bachelor,  his 
sisters  keeping  house  for  him.  It  was  said  that  he  frequently  sat 
up  the  greater  part  of  the  night  watching  the  bank  to  see  that 
nothing  happened  to  it  or  its  contents. 


5.      5 


Union  Classical  Institute.  249 

The  entrance  to  the  bank  was  on  the  corner ;  that  for  the 
residence  was  on  Church  street,  and  in  those  days  had  the  double 
twisting  stairway  leading  to  the  entrance  hall.  The  building  was 
solidly  built  of  stone  and  had  in  the  basement  a  vault  of  masonry, 
which  was  in  its  day  burglar  proof.  This  vault  remained  as 
solid  the  day  the  building  was  turned  into  a  club  as  it  was  the  day 
it  was  built. 

After  the  Mohawk  bank  had  occupied  the  building  for  several 
years  it  was  decided  to  move  to  new  quarters.  The  location 
chosen  was  on  State  street.  When  this  change  was  made, 
Chauncey  Vibbard,  a  man  whose  varied  career  was  in  keeping 
with  the  building,  purchased  it  as  a  residence.  Mr.  Vibbard 
spent  a  large  sum  of  money  in  converting  the  building  into  a 
luxurious  home.  During  his  occupancy  the  building  experienced 
the  first  of  its  great  changes,  for  Vibbard  was  a  high  liver  and 
something  of  a  high  flyer  and  although  there  were  no  "Seely 
dinners"  known  in  those  days,  the  high-jinks  which  took  place  in 
the  hospitable  Vibbard  residence  would  furnish  the  subject  for 
many  a  modern  newspaper  sensation. 

One  of  the  largest  robberies  ever  committed  in  this  city,  so 
far  as  the  value  of  the  property  stolen  is  concerned,  was  in  the 
Vibbard  mansion.  Mr.  Vibbard  had  a  house  party  of  six  wealth} 
New  Yorkers  up  for  a  week's  sojourn.  This  fact  became  known 
in  New  York,  probably  through  the  society  column  of  one  of  the 
papers,  to  some  clever  New  York  crooks  who  followed  the  party 
up  to  Schenectady  and  one  night  burglarized  the  house  and  stole 
several  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  jewelry. 

Chauncey  Vibbard  was  a  man  of  strength,  who  did  not  know 
the  meaning  of  failure  until  the  more  modern  and  cold-blooded 
methods  of  railroad  financiering,  introduced  by  the  Vanderbilt 
regime,  became  the  vogue.  Vibbard  started  as  a  clerk  of  the 
old  Schenectady  and  Utica  Railroad ;  the  third  oldest  in  the 
country  and  the  first,  with  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson,  to  regularly 
carry  passengers,  and  with  that  road,  was  the  parent  of  the  present 
10,000-mile  system  of  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River 


250  Old  Schenectady. 

Railroad.  Vibbard's  ability  was  recognized,  and  finally  he  became 
the  superintendent  of  the  road.  With  the  advent  of  Commodore 
Vanderbilt,  the  Vibbard  interests  lost  a  great  deal  of  money  and 
eventually,  the  Vibbard  mansion  was  sold  to  Edward  C.  Delevan, 
of  Ballston  Center,  in  Saratoga  County.  Mr.  Delevan  was  promi- 
nent in  the  cause  of  temperance  in  this  state  and  was  a  warm 
friend  of  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  the  president  of  Union  College, 
whose  name,  with  those  of  Woolsey  and  Porter  of  Yale,  McCosh  of 
Princeton,  and  Seely  of  Amherst,  will  ever  be  honored  in  America. 
But  the  thing  which  made  Delevan  most  famous  was  the  fine  old 
hotel  in  Albany  which  he  built,  and  managed,  and  which  bore  his 
name.  It  used  to  be  said,  that  more  laws  were  made  and  more 
political  careers  cut  short  in  that  house  than  were  made  or  cut 
short  up  in  the  capitol. 

It  was  through  the  friendship  of  Dr.  Nott  for  Delevan  that 
the  latter  gave  to  Union  College  his  large  and  valuable  collections 
of  fossils,  and  of  drawings  of  the  human  organs  showing  the 
effects  of  alcohol.  During  Mr.  Delevan's  occupancy  of  the 
mansion,  it  was  left  as  Mr.  Vibbard  arranged  it. 

The  next  change  for  the  famous  old  building  was  when  it 
was  sold  by  Delevan  to  William  T.  Crane,  a  manufacturer,  and 
the  diametrical  opposite  of  the  two  former  occupants.  Mr.  Crane 
was  a  man  of  dollars  and  cents  which  were  made  in  his  large 
knitting  mills  located  near  this  city.  He  was  a  man  of  some 
prominence  and  Crane's  Village,  six  miles  west  of  this  city  on 
the  Mohawk,  was  named  in  his  honor.  With  the  advent  of  Mr. 
Crane  the  wine  suppers  of  the  Vibbard  days  and  the  thoughtful 
company  and  elegance  of  the  Delevan  days,  disappeared  and  only 
their  ghosts  remained  to  comfort  the  building,  the  spacious  rooms 
of  which  had  been  the  silent  witnesses  of  so  much  revelry  and  so 
much  of  the  wisdom  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Dr.  Nott  and  his 
friend  Delevan.  Mr.  Crane  lived  in  the  house  but  a  short  time, 
when  a  committee  formed  for  the  purpose  of  separating  the  "prep." 
school  from  Union  College,  bought  the  building  and  the  U.  C.  I. 
was  born.    The  building  was  filled  five  days  of  the  week,  for  nine 


The  Schenectady  Academy.  251 

months  of  the  year,  with  the  youth  and  life  and  hope  of  the  boys 
and  girls  who  studied  and  recited  in  its  rooms.  The  feelings  of  the 
"old"  boys  and  girls  of  the  dear  old  U.  C.  I.  has  been  well  set 
forth  in  their  volume  "Memoriam"  which  was  issued  just  after 
the  removal  from  that  building  to  the  elegant  new  High  School 
on  Nott  Terrace. 

THE  SCHENECTADY  ACADEMY. 

The  Schenectady  Academy  was  the  child  of  the  First  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  and  was  built  by  the  Church.  The  people 
appreciated  the  advantages  of  such  an  institution.  They  gave  it 
their  patronage  and  furnished  it  with  a  library.  The  Superin- 
tendent of  the  building  operations  was  William  Schermerhorn. 
The  building  was  large,  was  two  stories  in  height  and  had  two 
large  room  on  both  floors.  It  was  built  upon  the  north-west 
corner  of  Union  and  Ferry  streets.  Each  pupil  paid  four  shillings 
a  year  to  the  Church,  and  its  minister  respectively.  The  four 
shillings  paid  yearly  by  each  pupil,  was  devoted  to  the 
education  of  such  students  as  could  not  pay  their  own  way.  In 
other  words,  the  money  was  to  found  what  is  now  called  a 
scholarship. 

On  April  7,  1785,  the  Consistory  of  the  Church  and  twenty- 
seven  prominent  citizens,  met  in  the  tavern  kept  by  Reuben 
Simonds,  on  Church  street,  to  sign  articles  of  agreement  for  the 
management  and  support  of  the  academy.  These  citizens  were 
C.  A.  Van  Slyck,  Andries  Van  Patten,  Joseph  Yates,  Cornelius 
Vrooman,  S.  A.  Brat,  Isaac  Quackenboss,  Abraham  Swits,  G.  A. 
Lansing,  Daniel  Campbell,  Claes  Van  der  Volgen,  Peter  Van 
Gyseling,  Christopher  Y^ates,  Henry  Glen,  Abraham  Uothout, 
John  Richardson,  Robert  Moyston,  William  Van  Ingen,  John 
Glen  (by  Henry  Glen)  Abraham  Fonda,  Harmanus  Bradt  (by  A. 
Oothout)  R.  Mynderse,  William  Mead,  Cornells  Van  Dyke,  Isaac 
Vrooman,  Nicholas  Veeder,  and  the  Rev.  Dirck  Romeyn. 

These  names  are  given,  because  the  twenty-seven  were 
practically,  the  founders  of  Union  College,  as  the  Academy  grew 
into  that  institution. 


^52 


Old  Schenectady. 


The  first  board  of  trustees  was  composed  of :  The  Rev.  D. 
Romeyn,  president ;  Dirk  Van  Ingen,  secretary ;  Abrahni  Oothout, 
treasurer;  John  Glen,  Daniel  Campbell,  Henry  Glen,  A.  Frey, 
Claes  Van  der  Volgen,  John  Sanders,  Peter  Vrooman,  B.  Dietz. 


Schenectady  Academy,   Corner  Union   and  Ferry   Streets.       First  Building  Used  by   Union   College. 

In  April,  1793,  the  building  was  made  over  to  the  trustee  by 
the  Church.  In  September,  1796,  the  trustee  made  over  the 
building  to  the  trustees  of  Union  College,  that  corporation  having 
been  chartered.  The  Academy  building  was  sold  and  the  money 
received  from  the  sale  was  used  to  erect  tbe  first  college  building. 
This  stood  on  the  property  now  occupied  by  the  Union  School. 

UNION  COLLEGE  AND  DR.  NOTT. 

Although  Union  College  had  been  in  existence  for  nine  years 
before  Eliphalet  Nott,  D.  D.,  became  its  president,  the  real  life 
of  the  College  was  so  entirely  due  to  Dr.  Nott  as  its  president 
for  sixty-three  years  of  untiring  effort  for  its  good,  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  institution  and  the  life  of  the  man  are  almost  identical. 


Union  College  and  Dr.  Nott.  253 

As  has  been  said  elsewhere,  Schenectady  was  very  early  an 
educational  center.  It  possessed  good  and  prosperous  schools,  of 
a  high  grade  for  the  times,  years  before  any  other  colonial  settle- 
ment in  this  part  of  the  Colony.  It  was  these  schools  which 
resulted  in  the  institution  of  Union  in  1795.  That  the  charter 
for  Union  College  was  obtained,  was  chiefly  due  to  the  efforts 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dirck  Ronieyn,  who  was  pastor  of  the  old  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  in  Schenectady  and  that  this  city  was  chosen 
as  its  location,  was  entirely  due  to  his  efforts  and  those  of  General 
Schuyler. 

The  immediate  parent  of  Union  College  was  the  Academy, 
which  was  built  of  stone,  in  1785.  on  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Ferry  streets,  for,  in  1795  Union  College  was  begun  in  this 
building  and  continued  in  it  till  1804.  In  that  year  the  College 
occupied  the  fine  building  which  was  built  for  that  purpose,  on 
Union  street  where  the  Union  School  now  stands.  This  building 
was  begun  in  1796,  but  because  of  a  lack  of  money  it  was  not 
finished  till  1804.  It  was  built  of  stone  and  cost,  with  its  lot, 
$60,000,  which  was  a  large  sum  in  those  days.  The  building  was 
three  stories  high  and  covered  a  ground  space  of  150  by  60  feet. 
It  was  here  where  Dr.  Nott  began  his  work  which  placed  him  on 
a  par  with  the  greatest  educators  of  his  day.  It  is  a  fact  that 
Dr.  Nott,  like  so  many  of  Schenectady's  prominent  men,  was  a 
New  England  Yankee. 

The  men  and  women  from  the  "Old  Country"  who  came  to 
Connecticut  and  composed  the  New  Haven  and  later,  the  Hart- 
ford Colonies,  were  of  a  different  stamp  from  those  who  had 
settled  the  older  portions  of  New  England.  While  the  settlers 
of  the  older  New  England  Colonies  were  men  of  strong  character, 
honesty  and  fearlessness,  they  were  from  a  more  humble  class. 
The  families  which  came  to  Connecticut  occupied  good,  and  a 
few  high,  social  positions  in  the  "Old  Country"  and  as  a  rule 
were  possessed  of  considerable  wealth.  It  was  of  such  stock  that 
the  Notts  came. 


Union  College  and  Dr.  Nott.  255 

John  Nott,  Dr.  Nott's  first  American  ancestor,  settled  in 
Wethersfield,  which  is  now  a  beautiful  suburb  of  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut, in  1640.  Sergeant  John  Nott  was  a  man  of  note  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Colony  and  of  the  highest  social  position.  Being 
possessed  of  ample  means  he  was  naturally  a  land  owner  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  where  the  soil  is  even 
more  fertile  than  are  the  Mohawk  valley  flats.  In  1665  and  for 
several  years  thereafter,  he  represented  the  town  of  Wethersfield 
in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Colony.  The  two  daughters  and 
one  son,  who  survived  him,  all  married  well.  Elizabeth  married 
Robert  Reeve,  who  was  the  ancestor  of  Judge  Tappan  Reeve,  the 
founder  of  the  Litchfield  Law  School :  Hannah  married  John 
Hale  and  so  became  the  grandmother  of  one  of  the  Nation's  finest 
patriots,  Captain  Nathan  Hale,  who  grieved  because  he  had  but 
one  life  to  sacrifice  for  the  cause  and  countrv  he  loved  so  well, 
but  the  youngest  child,  John,  is  of  greatest  interest  to  us  as  he  was 
the  great-grandfather  of  Eliphalet.  John  married  a  widow,  Mrs. 
Faience  Miller,  on  March  28,  1683.  They  had  seven  sons  and 
two  daughters.  The  youngest  of  these  children,  Abraham,  was 
born  on  January  29,  1696,  and  was  the  grandfather  of  Eliphalet. 

Abraham  Nott  was  graduated  from  Yale  College  with  honors 
in  the  first  class  to  graduate  after  the  College  was  moved  from 
Saybrook  to  New  Haven,  in  1720.  He  then  studied  for  the  minis- 
try and  was  ordained  in  Saybrook  in  1725  and  immediately  became 
pastor  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Saybrook.  This 
was  his  first  and  only  pastorate,  for  it  lasted  till  his  death  in  1759. 
The  Notts  were  powerful  men,  physically  as  well  as  mentally. 
There  is  a  tradition  in  Saybrook  that  he  was  able  to  lift  a  barrel 
of  cider  and  drink  from  the  bung-hole  and  that  no  man  had  ever 
been  able  to  stand  against  him  in  wrestling.  When  Abraham 
Nott  died  he  left  four  sons;  Stephen,  born  on  July  20,  1728,  the 
second  son,  was  the  father  of  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  for  sixty-three 
years  president  of  Lmion  College. 

Besides  leaving  enviable  reputations,  the  Notts  had  left  con- 
siderable fortunes,  as  they  were  thrifty  and  possessed  of  good 


256  Old  Schenectady. 

business  instincts  which  enabled  them  to  increase  that  which  was 
inherited,  but  Stephen,  the  father  of  Dr.  Nott,  seemed  to  lack 
these  qualities  or  was  the  victim  of  what  in  these  days  would  be 
called  a  "hoodoo." 

Stephen  received  a  good  common  school  education  and  was 
regarded  as  a  man  of  intelligence,  but  his  life  was  a  dismal  failure 
and  a  continuation  of  struggles  against  misfortune,  each  of  which 
left  the  family  worse  off  than  it  was  before.  At  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  in  1749,  he  opened  a  store  in  Saybrook,  with  a  considerable 
capital  at  his  command  and  with  bright  prospects.  He  married 
a  daughter  of  Samuel  Selden,  of  Lyme,  and  Deborah  Selden  Nott 
became  the  sustaining  power  of  her  unfortunate  husband  and  the 
inspiration  of  her  famous  son.  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott.  Deborah  was 
but  seventeen  at  the  time  of  her  marriage  and  was  considered  to 
be  as  lovely  in  spirit  and  mind  as  she  was  in  person.  There  was 
something  odd  about  Stephen  and  from  written  history  and  tradi- 
tion it  would  almost  seem  that  his  associates  in  business  did  not 
regard  him  as  being  any  too  scrupulous.  At  any  rate,  they  pushed 
him  so  hard,  as  one  misfortune  after  another  crippled  him,  that 
he  was  driven  to  the  wall  financially  and  was  forced  to  remain  in 
hiding  to  avoid  incarceration  in  the  debtors'  prison.  It  is  quite 
evident  that  Dr.  Nott  inherited  the  characteristics  of  his  grand- 
fathers on  the  Nott  side  of  the  house,  and  of  his  mother  who 
proved  herself  a  heroine  under  adversity,  rather  than  from  his 
father. 

For  ten  years  nothing  serious  happened  to  Stephen  and  then, 
in  1759,  his  home  and  the  greater  part  of  its  contents  were  burned. 
Samuel,  a  boy  of  five  years  was  barely  rescued  by  his  mother  and 
a  minister  who  was  a  guest  of  the  family  was  also  rescued  with 
difficulty.  The  friends  and  neighbors  showed  the  spirit  of  those 
days  by  helping  Stephen  to  rebuild.  Stephen's  business  was  the 
trading  of  "store  goods"  for  horses.  When  a  herd  had  been  col- 
lected, they  were  driven  to  New  Jersey  and  sold.  Within  a 
year  from  the  burning  of  his  home,  while  on  his  way  back  from 
New  Jersey,  where  he  had  received  a  large  sum  of  money  from 


Union  College  and  Dr.  Nott.  257 

the  sale  of  his  horses  he  was  waylaid,  knocked  from  his  horse  and 
every  penny  of  the  large  sum  he  was  carrying  in  his  saddlebags 
was  stolen.  Either  Stephen  had  not  been  successful  in  his  busi- 
ness up  to  this  time,  or  he  was  extravagant,  for  he  was  depending 
upon  the  money  stolen  from  him  to  meet  his  obligations  to  his 
creditors.  They  showed  an  unwillingness  to  wait,  so  his  property 
was  seized  and  his  arrest  was  ordered.  Stephen  escaped  the 
debtors'  prison  for  several  months  by  leaving  his  home.  Finally, 
when  he  returned,  he  was  arrested  and  put  in  jail,  but  a  special 
act,  soon  after  passed  in  regard  to  poor  debtors,  released  him. 

Stephen  Nott  and  his  family  then  moved  to  East  Haddam, 
where  he  purchased  a  small  place  on  credit  through  the  kind 
offices  of  a  relative  and  started  in  the  tanning  business,  which  he 
had  learned  in  his  youth.  East  Haddam  was  an  out  of  the  way 
place,  the  business  was  very  small,  but  the  struggle  with  poverty 
was  very  great.  Here  it  was  that  the  grand  qualities  of  his  wife, 
Deborah,  were  shown.  There  were  long  periods,  while  Stephen 
was  ill,  when  her  work  was  the  support  of  the  family.  In  addi- 
tion to  her  work  she  educated  the  children  as  there  was  no  school 
within  reaching  distance.  After  a  struggle  lasting  several  years 
the  family  moved  to  Foxtown  only  to  continue  the  struggle.  In 
1772,  sixty  acres  of  waste  land  were  exchanged  for  the  Foxtown 
place  in  the  Town  of  Ashford,  about  thirty  miles  from  Hartford, 
in  Windham  County.  On  this  rock-strewn  barren  land  was  a 
poor  little  house  in  which  Eliphalet  was  born  on  June  25,  1773. 

The  childhood  of  Eliphalet  was  not  particularly  different 
from  that  of  other  boys  of  poor  parents,  except  that  the  habit  of 
giving  a  verbal  report  of  the  hour-long  sermons  to  his  mother, 
whose  lack  of  health  kept  her  much  at  home,  made  him  more 
serious  than  children  of  his  age  would  naturally  be  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  wonderful  memory  which  exhibited  itself  in 
later  years  and  for  the  unusual  power  of  mental  application.  A 
sermon  which  was  preached  by  the  Baptist  pastor  of  the  church 
where  he  sometimes  attended,  it  being  near  home,  while  the  Con- 
gregational Church  was  several  miles  distant,  caused  him  to  tear 


258  Old  Schenectady. 

up  a  new-fangled  headdress  belonging  to  one  of  his  sisters, 
because  the  preacher  had  denounced  that  kind  of  head-gear  as  an 
invention  of  the  devil.  However  good  his  motive  may  have  been, 
his  sister  and  mother  saw  it  in  a  different  light  and  Eliphalet  was 
spanked. 

At  the  age  of  eight,  he  passed  a  winter  in  Hartland  with  a 
married  sister  and  in  the  spring  he  went  to  his  elder  brother 
Samuel,  who  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Frank- 
lin, Connecticut.  The  Rev.  Samuel  was  a  typical  Congregational- 
Connecticut  minister  of  that  period;  good,  just,  faithful,  but  with 
no  more  conception  of  the  joyousness  of  childhood  and  youth 
than  an  oyster  has  of  music,  so  little  Eliphalet  decided,  after  two 
years  of  restraint  and  repression,  to  run  away  to  sea.  He  was 
persuaded  to  give  up  the  idea  and  to  return  to  his  home,  to  con- 
tinue his  studies  with  his  mother,  till  her  death. 

When  fourteen,  be  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  the  local 
physician,  Dr.  Palmer,  but  his  first  experience  at  a  surgical 
operation  proved  his  unfitness  for  the  profession,  he  being  over- 
come by  the  sight  of  blood  and  the  suffering,  and  soon  after  he 
gave  it  up.  On  October  24,  1778,  his  mother  died.  Besides  the 
relationship  of  parent  and  child,  Eliphalet  and  his  mother  were 
confidential  friends  and  companions  and,  as  the  great  educator 
said  in  after  life:  "Whatever  I  am  is  due  to  my  mother.'' 

Soon  after  the  death  of  his  mother,  Eliphalet  returned  to  his 
brother  Samuel's  home  to  continue  his  studies  and,  in  the  mean- 
time, he  helped  support  himself  by  teaching  in  Franklin  and  the 
vicinity  schools.  His  success  as  a  teacher  was  so  notable  that  he 
was  appointed  to  the  principalship  of  the  Plainfield  Academy 
before  he  was  twenty  years  old.  It  was  in  this  school  that  he 
conceived  that  peculiar  system  of  government  which  many  years 
later  was  applied  with  such  great  success  in  Union  College.  This 
system  was  based  upon  an  intimate  feeling  of  good  will  and 
affection  between  the  master  and  pupils ;  self  respect  on  the  part 
of  the  pupils  and  veneration   for  the  institution  of  which  they 


Union  College  and  Dr.  Nott.  259 

were  members.  The  Plainfield  Academy  was  one  of  the  best 
schools  in  Connecticut  and  included  several  hundred  pupils  of 
both  sexes. 

While  teaching  in  the  Academy,  he  had  continued  his  studies 
for  the  purpose  of  taking-  a  degree  at  Brown  University  and  for 
future  studies  for  the  ministry.  He  took  the  senior  examinations 
at  Brown  in  the  autumn  of  1795,  and  passed,  but  as  he  had  not 
been  regularly  connected  with  the  college  classes  and  so  could 
not  receive  the  usual  diploma,  he  was  given  a  testimonial  and  an 
honorary  A.  M.  He  was  examined  by  the  New  London  County 
Association  and  was  licensed  to  preach  on  June  26,  1796.  Several 
attempts  were  made  to  induce  him  to  settle  in  a  parish  in  Con- 
necticut, but  he  refused,  his  belief  being  that  he  could  accomplish 
more  good  in  the  thinly  settled  portion  of  New  York  west  of  the 
Hudson.  He  obtained  a  roving  commission  from  the  Domestic 
Missionary  Society  of  Connecticut  as  missionary  in  New  York. 
On  July  4,  1796,  he  married  Maria,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Joel  Benedict,  minister  of  the  Congregational  Church 
of  Plainfield  and  then  started  on  his  journey  to  the  wilderness 
of  New  York,  leaving  his  bride  in  the  home  of  her  father  till  he 
had  made  a  home  for  her. 

His  journey  took  him  to  Hartford,  Springfield  and  then  to 
Albany  where  he  encountered  that  suspicion  of  strangers  which 
was  peculiar  to  the  Dutch  and  which  is  met  with  to-day  in  the 
more  tempered  form  of  an  utter  disregard  of  any  social  obligation 
on  their  parts  toward  persons,  not  of  Dutch  descent,  residing 
among  them.  He  arrived  in  Albany  late  and  stayed  at  a  tavern 
kept  by  a  Dutchman  who  could  not  speak  English  and,  as  his 
guest  could  not  speak  Dutch,  he  naturally  took  it  for  granted 
that  Dr.  Nott  was  a  suspicious  character,  so  he  locked  him  in  his 
room  and  kept  him  in  it  till  he  saw  fit  to  let  him  out  in  the 
morning. 

Dr.  Nott's  destination  was  a  little  way  beyond  Cherry  Valley, 
but  he  was  called  back  to  that  village  by  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  two  months  from  the  day  he  first  saw  Cherry  Valley  he  was 


260 


Old  Schenectady. 


its  pastor.  There  he  lived  for  about  two  years,  his  wife  having 
joined  him.  Besides  the  duties  of  pastor  he  had  those  of  teacher 
too,  for  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  live  anywhere  without 
following  this  loved  calling"  for  which  he  was  so  eminently  fitted. 
He  was  loved  and  respected  by  the  parents  and  children  and  his 
wife  held  an  equal  place  in  their  hearts  and  esteem.  Mrs.  Nott 
was  possessed  of  a  joyous  disposition  and  unusual  refinement 
and  cultivation  of  mind,  which  attracted  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  persons.  She  entered  heart  and  mind  into  her  husband's  work 
and  also  devoted  herself  to  the  people  of  his  church.  Mrs.  Xott's 
health  became  impaired  to  such  an  extent,  that  in  1798  she  was 
taken  to  Ballston  Springs  to  take  the  waters,  which  were  even 
then  celebrated  for  their  beneficial  qualities.  Her  strength  was 
restored  but  she  did  not  return  to  Cherry  Valley,  for  her  husband 
was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  of 


Dr.   Soft's   Hat  and   Cane 


Albany.  Dr.  Nott  accepted  and  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery, 
on  October  13,  1798.  He  was  installed  at  the  same  time,  Presi- 
dent John  Blair  Smith  of  Union  College,  preaching  the  sermon. 
While  pastor  of  this  church  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  Union 
College.     Dr.   Nott  was  a  prime  mover  in  the  founding  of  the 


[  'iiiou  College  and  Dr.  Nott. 


261 


Albany  Academy  in  1813,  the  building'  of  which  was  begun  in 
1815  and  finished  in  1817  at  an  expense  of  $100,000.  In  1804 
Mrs.  Xott's  health  again  became  impaired  and  again  she  was 
taken  to  Ballston  in  the  hope  of  a  cure,  but  without  avail,  her 
death  occurring  on  March  1  1,  1804.  Three  years  later,  on  August 
3,  1807,  Dr.  Xott  married  the  widow  of  Benjamin  Tibbetts,  of 
Troy. 

One  of  Dr.  Nott's  greatest  public  addresses,  probably  the 
greatest,  was  delivered  in  the  old  North  Dutch  Church  in  Albany, 
on  the  death  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  as  the  result  of  his  duel 
with  Aaron  Burr.  It  was  in  the  summer,  after  the  delivery  of 
this  sermon,  that  he  was  invited  to  become  president  of  Union 
College.  After  giving  the  subject  careful  consideration  and  ob- 
taining the  advice  of  friends  upon  whose  disinterestedness  he 
could  depend,  he  accepted  on  September  14,  1804. 


Union  College. 

In  1804  there  were  forty  students  in  the  college;  the  largest 
graduating  class  numbering  seventeen.  This  was  in  1803  and 
there  was  no  increase  till  1808  when  there  were  eighteen  who 
were  graduated.  In  that  year  the  growth  of  the  college  under 
the  new  president  began,  for  in  1809  there  were  one  hundred 
students  in  the  four  classes  and  twenty-nine  were  graduated.  In 
1 81 3  there  were  more  than  two  hundred  students  in  the  college 


262  Old  Schenectady. 

and  forty-six  received  diplomas.  The  system  of  raising  money 
by  means  of  lotteries  for  the  College,  which  was  greatly  in  need 
of  money  in  1805,  was  adopted  by  the  College,  by  act  of  the 
Legislature.  This  system  was  not  regarded  in  any  other  than  a 
perfectly  natural  way  of  obtaining  the  desired  end.  In  fact,  it 
was  a  popular  method  with  churches  as  well  as  with  educational 
institutions  and  municipalities.  It  was  not  till  lotteries  became  a 
source  of  private  profit  that  the  law  makers  discovered  that  they 
were  naughty. 

As  an  educator,  Dr.  Nott  was  broad  in  his  ideas  of  instruc- 
tion as  well  as  of  discipline.  In  regard  to  discipline,  he  held  in 
contempt  the  spirit  which  prompted  the  majestic  judicial  sittings 
of  the  faculty  to  investigate  an  infraction,  by  an  undergraduate, 
of  one  of  the  many  college  rules  or  regulations,  with  their 
resultant  fines,  suspensions  or  expulsions,  should  the  culprit  be 
convicted  of  following  the  instincts  of  joyous  youth  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  violate  anything  so  awful  in  its  importance,  as  a  rule 
of  the  faculty.  Dr.  Nott  felt  that  the  faculty  of  a  college  would 
be  much  better  employed  if  imparting  instruction  in  the  class- 
room than  in  spending  hours,  and  sometimes  days,  investigating 
as  to  the  hour  when  a  student  had  put  out  his  light ;  retired  , 
arisen  ;  or  possibly  the  commission  of  so  heinous  a  crime  as  the 
punching  of  a  "townie's"  head. 

As  a  temperance  reformer  he  was  actually  what  that  word 
implies — temperate  in  his  methods  of  getting  rid  of  the  evil — for 
he  was  opposed  to  forcing  reform  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
beverages  beyond  the  point  for  which  society  was  prepared,  but 
at  the  same  time,  he  believed  it  the  duty  of  temperance  people  to 
never  miss  an  opportunity  for  educating  society  up  to  the  point  of 
total  abstenance. 

As  a  man,  he  was  possessed  of  a  powerful  physique ;  a  happy 
disposition ;  a  love  of  nature  and  the  companionship  of  his  fellow 
men.  That  he  was  determined  to  do  that  which  he  believed  he 
should  do,  in  opposition  to  the  most  flattering  temptations,  was 
shown  by  his  repeated  refusals  to  accept  offers,  far  more  lucra- 


Union  College  and  Dr.  Nott. 


263 


tive  and  more  desirable  from  a  social  standpoint,  from  churches 
in  New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia  and  Albany.  He  believed 
that  his  work  was  in  Schenectady  as  president  of  Union  College ; 
neither  money  nor  social  advantages  counted  with  him. 

Dr.  Xott  was  a  companionable  man  who  delighted  in  excur- 
sions with  the  undergraduates  and  his  interest  in  their  sports  was 
as  great  as  it  was  in  their  character  building  and  education.  Like 
Woolsey,  Porter  and  Dana,  of  Yale,  and  Dr.  Holmes,  he  never 
grew  old  except  in  body,  his  spirit  and  love  remained  youthful 
and  great  to  the  day,  when,  overcome  by  the  weight  of  years  well 
spent,  he  was  graduated  from  the  Unviersity  of  the  World  into 
Eternity  with  the  God  he  loved  and  served  so  faithfully  with 
the  Divine  degree  of :  "Well  done  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 

His  birth  into  the  reward  he  had  earned  occurred  on  January 
29,  1866,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-three. 

The  subject  of  Dr.  Xott  would  not  be  complete  without  some- 
thing being  said  about  Moses  Yiney,  who, 
born  a  slave,  lived  the  life  of  a  Man  and 
Christian ;  the  loved  servant  and  companion 
of  Dr.  Nott,  who  in  turn  was  loved  by  Moses 
as  no  other  man  loved  him,  for  it  was  the 
great  educator,  orator,  philanthropist  and 
greater  Christian,  who  received  the  fugitive 
slave,  paid  the  price  of  his  servitude,  gave  him 
his  manhood,  treated  him  as  he  treated  all 
men,  with  the  added  affection  which  Moses' 
devotion  and  fine  qualities  called  forth. 

Moses  Yiney  was  born  in  Talbot  County, 
Maryland,  on  March  10,  1817,  one  of  a  family 
of  twenty-one  children.  His  master,  William 
Murphy,  gave  him  to  his  little  son,  Richard, 
who  was  a  year  older  than  Moses.  He  was 
treated  with  great  kindness  by  the  Murphy 
family,  so  it  was  the  possession  of  the  higher 
qualities  and  ambition  which  caused  Moses  to 

1  Stove  Invented  by  Dr.  Nott, 


264 


Old  Schenectady. 


run  away,  rather  than  harsh  treatment.  His  passionate  desire  to 
be  a  citizen  and  cease  to  be  a  chattel  caused  him  to  determine  upon 
death  rather  than  capture. 

Moses  and  two  companions  had  received  permission  to  go  to 
a  neighboring  settlement  on  Easter  morning,  1838.  The  day  of 
their  start  seemed  to  be  propitious,  for  good  fortune  attended 
them  all  the  way  to  freedom.  They  traveled  as  they  could  till 
they  reached  Philadelphia,  where  "Bishop"  Wyman  sheltered 
them  and  obtained  for  them  assistance  from  Abulitionist  friends 
who  sent  them  to  Troy,  New  York,  to  a  friend  who  lived  in  that 

city. 

Moses  was  unable  to  find  the  Trojan,  so  he  went  to  Schenec- 
tady and  was  employed  for  a  brief  time  by  Dr.   Fonda,  on  his 


Blue   Gate,    Union   College. 

farm,  and  soon  after  he  was  hired  by  Dr.  Xott.  When  the  "Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law"  went  into  effect,  in  1850,  Moses  went  to  Canada 
for  two  years,  upon  the  advice  of  Dr.  Nott,  who  finally  succeeded 
in  purchasing  his  freedom,  and  Moses  returned  to  Schenectady 
and  remained  with  Dr.  Nott  till  his  death.  He  was  the  doctor's 
faithful  nurse  during  his  last  illness  and  was  at  his  bedside,  the 
last  person  to  speak  to  him  before  the  end  came. 


/  'niou  College  and  Dr.  Xoit. 


265 


Moses  is  still  living"  and  his  eight)  -eight  years  are  not  heavy 
upon  him.  His  mind,  sight  and  hearing  arc  as  good  as  ever,  his 
memory  is  wonderful  and  his  happy,  cheerful  disposition  is  inspir- 
ing. He  was  always  thrifty  and  after  Dr.  Nott's  death  he  bought 
a  horse  and  carriage  and  was  in  such  demand  by  the  old  families 
of  the  citv  that  he  accumulated  sufficient  money  to  make  him 
independent  now  in  old  age. 

Besides  driving  Dr.  Nott  about  in  his  famous  three- wheeled 
chariot,  Moses  was  very  well  known  hv  the  students,  for  when 
Dr.  Nott  wished  to  "see  one  of  them  in  the  library,"  it  was  Moses 
who  took  the  message  and  sometimes  brought  hack  the  student. 


Bovjery  Woods 


Chapter  XVIII. 


HOTELS. 


CHENECTADY'S    first    house   of   entertainment    for 
^5         man  and  beast  was  the  inn  kept  by  Douw  Aukes  in 
1663.     Its  location  was  on  the  south  corner  of  State 
street  and  Mill  lane. 

In  1671  there  were  two  inns  in  the  village;  one  was 
kept  by  J.  C.  Van  Slyck,  a  son  of  that  Van  Slyck  who 
married  a  daughter  of  a  Mohawk  chief ;  and  the  other, 
by  C.  C.  Viele,  was  the  same  as  the  one  kept  by  Aukes 
in  1663.  Aukes  married  the  granddaughter  of  Viele. 
Either  the  license  was  in  the  name  of  the  older  man,  Viele,  in 
1671,  or  else  Aukes  had  given  up  the  business  and  Viele  was  the 
inn-keeper  in  1671.  There  was  sharp  rivalry  between  the  two 
inn-keepers  for,  besides  selling  "fire-water"  they  acted  as  inter- 
preters and  Indian  traders.  Schenectady  being  a  frontier  post, 
the  business  of  keeping  an  inn  was  an  important  and  lucrative 
one  for,  when  a  thirsty  Indian  would  "swap"  a  belt  worth  pounds, 
for  a  bottle  of  rum  worth  shillings,  the  balance  on  the  ledger 
was  all  in  favor  of  the  inn-keeper. 

The  next  house  of  entertainment  was  Clenche's  Tavern,  also 
on  the  square.  This  was  the  original  inn  kept  by  Aukes.  The 
building  was  spared  by  the  Indians  during  the  massacre,  out  of 
regard  for  Van  Slyck,  but  was  destroyed  by  the  great  fire  of  1819. 
The  most  notable  event  in  the  history  of  this  tavern  was  the 
reception  and  banquet  given  in  honor  of  General  Washington  and 
four  officers  of  Washington's  army.  In  June,  1782,  Washington 
was  in  Albany  on  business  connected  with  the  war  and  the  oppor- 
tunity of  getting  him  to  visit  Schenectady  was  too  good  to  be 
lost,  so  an  invitation  was  sent  and  accepted.  He  and  General 
Philip  Schuyler  drove  over  from  Albany  on  June  30.    They  were 


Hotels.  269 

given  a  very  formal  and  dignified  reception  by  the  military  and 
civil  authorities  and  then  the  banquet  was  served  in  the  tavern 
kept  by  his  old  comrad  in  arms,  Robert  Clench.  Clench  was  a 
drum-major  in  Braddock's  army  at  Brandywine  and  Fort 
Duquesne  at  the  same  time  that  Washington — whose  advice  Brad- 
dock  disregarded  and  so,  was  forced  to  accept  defeat — was  filling 
the  important  post  of  scout.  Washington  and  Clench  became 
intimate  in  their  old  army  days  and  the  latter's  pleasure  over  the 
high  position  attained  by  his  former  companion  in  arms,  and  with 
the  renewal  of  friendship,  was  unbounded.  The  Clenches  in 
England  and  later  in  the  Colonies  and  young  Nation,  were  persons 
of  mark  in  official  and  social  affairs  and  the  family  was  possessed 
of  wealth. 

Besides  the  military  and  civil  authorities  of  Schenectady  and 
men  who  were  prominent  in  business  and  professional  life,  there 
were  with  Washington  and  Schuyler,  Col.  Frederick  Visscher  and 
Col.  Abraham  Wemple.  To  give  especial  honor  to  C  olonel 
Visscher,  who  was  in  command  of  a  regiment  at  the  battle  of 
Oriskany,  Washington  caused  him  to  be  seated  on  his  right.  An 
address  was  made  to  Washington  to  which  he  wrote  a  brief  and 
vigorous  reply. 

Robert  Clenche's  son,  Thomas  B.  Clench,  continued  the  occu- 
pation of  his  father.  His  first  hotel  was  the  Bradt  building,  No. 
7  State  street.  Then  he  kept  Clenche's  Hotel  further  up  State 
street,  which  was  later  called  the  Sharratt  Hotel.  This  famous 
old  house  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Myers  building  on  the 
Xorth  side  of  State  street,  the  second  building  West  of  the  canal. 
The  Sharrat  House  was  an  old  fashioned,  low-studded  building 
with  the  great  timbers  showing  in  the  ceilings  as  was  customary 
in  old  days.  It  was  built  of  brick  whitewashed  on  the  outside. 
It  was  a  first-class  country  tavern  and  very  popular  with  the 
farmers  of  the  county.  It  was  kept  by  several  men  after  the 
death  of  T.  B.  Clench,  in  1830.  In  later  days  there  was  a  sign 
in  front  of  the  house  bearing  the  legend :  "The  Myer's  House 
yard  is  Open  Free,  for  Farmers,  by  Peter  Magee."    This  was  the 


Hotels.  271 

hotel  on  Liberty  street  the  entrance  for  teams  being  through  the 
Sharrat  House  yard. 

The  Givens  House  was  the  most  pretentious  hotel  in  Schenec- 
tady and  its  location  was  the  result  of  a  heated  contest  between 
Mr.  Givens  and  the  merchants  of  lower  State  street. 

About  1835,  when  the  Schenectady  and  Utica  Railroad  was 
to  be  started,  the  people  of  the  west  end  of  the  city,  down  Church 
street  and  Washington  avenue  way,  wanted  this  road  to  follow  the 
course  through  the  city  of  the  old  Saratoga  Railroad,  which  was  up 
Railroad  street,  under  State  and  Union  streets  where  the  County 
Clerk's  office  is,  to  the  bridge  across  the  river.  Mr.  Givens  desired 
the  company  to  run  its  tracks  just  where  they  are  now,  for  he 
owned  property  there  and  wished  to  erect  a  hotel  by  the  station. 
The  fight  was  bitterly  fought  and  triumphantly  won  by  Mr. 
Givens.  He  then  erected  the  fine  hotel,  shown  in  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  architect's  drawing  of  the  railroad  station,  as  it  was 
first  built. 

The  plan  of  the  station  was  fine  and  the  appearance  dignified 
and  impressive.  The  building  across  the  tracks  from  the  Givens 
House  was  later  known  as  the  Drullard  House.  It  will  be  seen 
that  both  houses  were  connected  with  the  station  by  a  covered 
walk.  The  building,  which  was  later  the  Drullard  House,  occu- 
pied the  site  of  the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Railroad's  tracks.  The 
present  corner,  the  site  of  Reynold's  drug  store,  would  be  to  the 
right  of  the  Drullard  House,  where  it  is  shown  in  the  picture.  The 
station  and  Givens  House  were  burned  in  the  winter  of  1842-43 
Mr.  Givens  immediately  rebuilt  the  house  shown  in  the  othei 
picture,  which  was  later  pulled  down  to  make  room  for  the  Edi 
son  Hotel. 


Chapter  XIX. 
Reminiscences. 


TOM  HARMON. 

BOUT  sixty  years  ago,  when  the  public  hay  market 
A  and  scales  were  on  the  north-west  corner  of  Union 

and  Ferry  streets,  Tom  Harmon,  at  one  time  a  brilliant 
lawyer,  who  surrendered  to  the  subtile  power  of  King 
Alcohol,  and  so  became  reduced  to  gladly  serving  as 
weigh -master,  was  anxiously  watching  the  approach 
of  a  load  of  hay,  to  be  weighed  upon  the  scales.  His 
interest  was  not  caused  by  official  enthusiasm  nor  by 
curiosity  in  regard  to  the  weight  of  the  hay,  but  by 
the  fact  that,  being  "temporarily  embarrassed,"  he  had  not  yet 
absorbed  his  regular  matutinal  beverage.  He  knew  that  the  six- 
pence, to  be  paid  by  the  man  in  charge  of  the  hay,  would  purchase 
a  drink  of  whiskey.  Oxen  are  proverbially  slow ;  but  this  team 
seemed  to  creep.  After  Mr.  Harmon  had  paced  back  and  forth 
across  the  platform  of  the  scales,  for  some  time,  he  removed  his 
hat,  wiped  the  moisture  from  his  forehead,  and  remarked  to  Mr. 
Joseph  Carley,  then  a  little  boy ;  "My  God  Joe,  how  slow  a  thing 
is  an  ox !" 

"BILL"  ANTHONY. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  decidedly  warm  contests 
which  took  place  in  the  Board  of  Supervisors  and  this  suggests 
"Bill"  Anthony,  the  political  boss  of  the  Second  Ward,  a  ward 
which  has  been  famous  for  many  years  as  the  home-ward  of 
political  bosses. 

"Bill"  Anthony  was  a  hotel  keeper  at  the  corner  of  Ferry 
and  Liberty  streets,  where  Red  Men's  Hall  now  stands.     At  the 


274  Old  Schenectady. 

rear  of  the  hotel,  occupying  the  second  floor  of  the  building  on 
Liberty  street,  was  Anthony's  Hall  which  was  the  only  theatre 
in  the  city  for  many  years,  and  the  hall  where  the  fashionable 
balls  of  the  city  were  given,  but  more  important  still  was  the  fact 
that  it  was  political  headquarters  for  the  city  and  county.  In 
the  hall  political  meetings  took  place  and  in  "Bill's"  sanctum 
deals  were  made  and  schemes  of  a  political  nature  hatched. 

At  this  time  there  were  five  supervisors  representing  the  city 
wards  and  five  representing  the  five  towns  of  the  County.  The 
one  ambition  of  the  city  supervisors  was  to  prevent  the  country 
supervisors  from  obtaining  that  which  they  wanted,  and  the 
energy  of  the  country  supervisors  was  exerted  to  block  the  efforts 
of  the  city  supervisors.  It  made  little  difference  what  came  up 
for  consideration,  it  was  surely  opposed  by  the  side  which  did 
not  propose  it,  the  towns  pulling  together  without  regard  to  party, 
but  the  chief  point  of  contention  was  the  equalization  of  taxes. 
The  city  tried  to  shove  off  a  portion  of  its  taxes  upon  the  towns 
and  the  towns  tried  to  make  the  city  pay  more  of  the  county  tax 
than  was  its  share. 

In  those  days,  instead  of  there  being  city  tax  assessors,  each 
ward  had  its  assessors  just  as  the  towns  do  now  and  it  was  this 
fact  which  "Bill"  Anthony  used  to  keep  himself  in  power.  The 
taxes  in  the  Second  Ward  were  always  the  lowest  in  the  city, 
thanks  to  the  manner  in  which  Anthony  arranged  things  and  this, 
of  course,  made  the  voters  of  that  ward  stick  to  "Bill"  as  closely 
as  the  modern  office  seeker  sticks  to  the  donor  of  patronage.  With 
ten  members  in  the  board,  the  five  city  supervisors  were  able  to 
block  any  action  proposed  and  greatly  desired  by  the  country  mem- 
bers. At  that  time,  the  greed  for  graft  was  not  so  prominent  as  it 
is  now.  The  desire  to  control  and  to  stand  well  with  their  constitu- 
ents was  the  chief  aim.  The  city  supervisors  were  jealous  of 
Anthony  and  the  country  supervisors  took  advantage  of  this  to 
obtain  control  of  the  board  when  matters  dear  to  their  hearts  came 
up.  A  deal  was  made  with  "Bill"  that  he  should  support  the 
country  members  and  that  they  should  vote  with  him   in   city 


Reminiscences.  275 

matters.     This  worked  successfully  and  only  added  strength  to 
the  enmity  between  the  City  and  Towns. 

One  day.  while  the  hoard  was  equalizing',  the  country  super- 
visors, fearing  the  city  hunch  would  offer  and  earn-  a  certain 
resolution  which  would  he  objectionable,  a  scheme  was  evolved 
whereby  the  necessary  quorum  might  be  eliminated  so  that  the 
resolution  could  not  be  voted  upon.  One  of  the  members  from 
the  country  asked  to  be  excused.  The  chairman,  then  as  now, 
desiring  nothing  better  than  to  be  "popular"  with  the  members, 
readily  granted  the  request.  Soon,  another  member  made  a 
similar  request.  The  late  Charles  P.  Sanders,  then  a  member  of 
the  board,  was  making  a  bluff  at  working  on  the  books  for 
equalization.  When  this  second  request  to  be  excused  was  made, 
by  prearrangement,  he  addressed  the  chair  and  said,  that  as  the 
noise  and  confusion  was  so  great  the  work  of  equalizing  was 
interrupted  and  he  would  move  that  any  member  could  be  excused 
who  wished  to  be.  (The  Board  of  Supervisors  met  at  that  time 
in  the  present  Grand  Jury  room  in  the  Court  House.)  The  motion 
was  carried  and  the  country  members  started  for  the  door,  some 
of  them  getting  out  before  the  late  Alexander  Thompson,  seeing 
through  the  scheme,  locked  it. 

Mr.  Sanders  objected  to  any  business  being  done  behind 
locked  doors.  He  and  Supervisor  McMillan  started  toward  the 
door  to  unlock  it  and  Mr.  Thompson  tried  to  prevent  them.  Mr. 
McMillan  was  a  very  tall  and  powerful  man,  so  the  "wrestle" 
for  possession  of  the  door  was  somewhat  strenuous.  In  the  heat 
of  the  contest  Mr.  Thompson  called  Mr.  McMillan  "a  country 
calf."  Mr.  McMillan  said  :  "You  dare  to  call  me  a  'country  calf.' 
I'll  show  you,  you're  going  out  of  that  window" — that  window 
being  twenty-five  feet  from  the  ground.  He  gathered  Mr. 
Thompson  up  by  the  collar  of  his  coat  and  the  loosest  portion  of 
bis  trousers  and  swung  him  toward  the  window,  declaring  he'd 
throw  him  out  if  it  killed  him.  Of  course  the  other  members  in 
the  room  prevented  it,  but  the  incident  shows  that  the  supervisors 
did  something  more  in  those  days  than  smoke  cigars  and  relate 
funny  stories. 


276  Old  Schenectady. 

SERGEANT  ROONEY. 

Sergeant  Rooney  was  one  of  those  delightful  Irish  characters, 
who  keep  the  heart  warm  and  faith  in  human  nature  alive.  He 
was  as  keen,  as  faithful  to  his  duty ;  as  witty  and  warm-hearted 
as  generous  and  fearless. 

One  day  a  citizen  complained  at  police  headquarters  that 
such  a  thing  as  a  policeman  was  never  seen  in  the  part  of  the  city 
where  he  resided ;  that,  while  that  part  of  the  city  was  orderly 
and  seldom  needed  the  presence  of  a  policeman,  he  and  the  other 
tax  payers,  who  helped  support  the  police  department,  would  like 
to  see  one  around  occasionally.  Sergeant  Rooney,  with  tightly 
shut  lips  and  wide-open  ears,  took  it  all  in  and  mentally  vowed 
that  Mr.  Blank  should  soon  be  treated  to  the  sight  that  he  and 
the  other  tax  payers  craved.  At  eleven  o'clock  that  night,  Mr. 
Blank  was  aroused  by  a  jangling  at  the  door  bell  and  a  thumping 
on  the  door.  He  opened  the  window  and  in  a  sleepy  voice, 
demanded  to  know  who  it  was  and  what  was  the  matter. 
Sergeant  Rooney  looked  up  and  replied,  "Oh,  nothing  much.  I 
only  wanted  you  to  know  there  is  a  policeman  to  be  seen  in  this 
part  of  the  city.  At  twelve  o'clock,  Sergeant  Rooney  returned 
and  repeated  the  performance ;  and  this  time,  Mr.  Blank  requested 
the  sergeant  to  go  to  that  place  which  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards 
declared  was  paved  with  infants'  skulls.  He  then  returned  to 
sleep,  but  was  awakened  each  successive  hour,  till  sunrise,  when 
the  sergeant  went  home,  satisfied  that  the  value  of  policemen  in 
Mr.  Blank's  part  of  the  city,  would  fall  way  below  par. 


THE  FIRST  PRIZE  FIGHT. 

The  first  prize  fight  of  the  Mohawk  valley  took  place  near 
the  home  of  Sir  William  Johnson  about  1765.  Sir  William  had 
in  his  employ  a  large,  ham-fisted  Irishman  named  McCarthy, 
who  was  noted  as  the  "champeen"  bare-knuckle  fighter  of 
western  New  York.     Sir  William  offered  to  back  his  bis:  Irishman 


Reminiscences.  277 

against  any  man  with  sufficient  courage  to  stand  up  against  him. 
Major  Jillis  Fonda  hearing  of  the  challenge,  felt  his  sporting 
blood  begin  to  Mow  rapidly  and,  too,  he  believed  that  a  "Van" 
was  as  good  as  a  "Ale"  with  his  mauleys  any  day  of  the  week  or 
month.  Major  Fonda  traveled  forty  miles  to  see  John  Van  Loon, 
a  very  large  and  muscular  Dutchman,  to  lay  the  case  before 
him.  Van  Loon  agreed  for  a  ten  pound  note,  to  make  the  big 
Irishman  eat  dirt.  A  large  number  of  the  sporting  gentry  met  to 
witness  the  fight.  Pat  swaggered  about,  trailing  the  tails  of  his 
coat  for  some  one  to  tread  upon.  In  fact  he  boasted  and  talked 
just  as  much  and  as  long  as  the  twentieth  century  fighter  does, 
while  Van  Loon  stood  by  thinking  ponderous  Dutch  thoughts  in 
the  Hollandish  language.  The  ring  was  formed  and  the  fight 
began  without  that  chief  of  fakirs,  the  modern  referee,  to  sell  his 
decision  and  spoil  the  sport.  Pat  fought  well  for  a  time,  but 
gradually  that  Dutchman  did  things  to  him  which  were  real  rude 
and  unkind.  Pat  ate  dirt  and  was  pounded  into  pulp  between 
mouthfuls.  Although  history  does  not  go  further,  it  is  probable 
that  Pat  gave  up  fighting,  opened  a  saloon  on  the  distiller's  money 
and  became  a  ward  politician. 

"BILLY"  VAN  HORNE  AND  THE  COP. 

When  William  J.  Van  Home  was  mayor  of  Schenectady, 
there  was  one  policeman  of  whom  he  was  not  certain.  He  wished 
to  ascertain  from  personal  knowledge,  derived  from  experiment, 
just  what  this  policeman,  whose  name  was  W'emple,  would  do, 
when  a  prisoner  put  up  a  fight.  In  imitation  of  that  other  wise 
man,  of  the  East,  Haroun  Al  Raschid,  Mayor  Van  Home  dis- 
guised himself  as  a  tough  character,  and,  when  he  saw  Wemple 
approaching,  began  to  cut  up  "didoes"  on  the  sidewalk  near  Van 
Home  hall.  Officer  Wemple  remonstrated  and  ordered  the 
amateur  tough  to  move  on.  Instead  of  desisting  and  moving,  the 
tough  "sassed"  the  officer,  and  when  Wemple  took  hold  of  the 
tough,  he  resisted ;  whereupon  Wemple  knocked  him  down,  ham- 


278  Old  Schenectady. 

mered  him  into  submission  and  started  for  the  station  house  with 
him.  Mayor  Van  home  was  satisfied  that  Officer  Wemple  was 
all  right;  so  he  declared  himself  to  Wemple.  This  irritated 
Wemple  who  hustled  the  Mayor  along  all  the  faster,  while  the 
Mayor  continued  to  protest;  "It's  all  right,  I  tell  you.  I'm  the 
mayor,  I'm  Billy  Van  Home.  Let  go,  I  tell  you."  He  was  taken 
to  the  station  house  and  it  was  not  till  his  disguise  was  removed, 
that  his  protestations  of  being  "Billy  Van  Home,  the  mayor," 
were  found  to  be  fact. 

*     *     * 

MEANING  OF  "DORP"  AND  "CAMP." 

All  new  arrivals  in  Schenectady  hear  and  see  in  print  the 
word  Dorp  used  for  Schenectady  and  many  are  curious  in  regard 
to  its  origin  and  meaning.  Dorp  is  simply  a  Dutch  word  meaning 
"village."  Schenectady  has  been  called  "The  Village"  for  more 
than  200  years. 

While  nearly  everybody  in  Schenectady  knows  that  the 
land  along  the  Mohawk  river  and  the  river  road,  or  Mohawk 
turnpike,  extending  from  near  the  Sanders  mansion  to  the 
neighborhood  of  old  Maalwyck,  or  the  Toll  place,  is  called  "The 
Camp,"  but  very  few  know  why  it  is  so  called.  In  1759  two 
Highland  regiments  under  General  Prideaux  encamped  upon  the 
land  between  the  Mohawk  turnpike  and  the  river  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  his  soldiers  from  the  temptations  and  gay  life  of 
Schenectady.  The  word,  "camp,"  in  time  included  all  the  land 
between  the  actual  site  of  Prideaux'  camp  north  to  the  "high 
bank."  There  is  a  popular  belief  that  it  was  so  called  because  the 
Indians  encamped  upon  it,  but  this  is  not  a  fallacy. 

*     *     * 
SHOPPING  IN  1700. 

The  stores  of  the  Seventeenth  and  the  first  half  of  the 
Eighteenth  centuries  were  very  simple  and  primitive  affairs  and 
the  storekeeper  frequently  had  other  occupations.     The  store  was 


Reminiscences.  279 

usually  the  front  room  of  the  proprietor's  dwelling  and  the  pur- 
chases were  generally  made  at  the  front  door  or  in  the  hallway, 
the  customer  seldom  entering  the  room  where  the  goods  were 
kept.  In  the  very  early  days  the  wheat  and  other  salable  products 
of  the  up-river  farms,  were  brought  to  Schenectady  in  canoes 
and  traded  with  the  storekeepers  for  such  goods  and  simple 
groceries  as  were  in  demand  in  those  days.  The  Indian  brought 
his  stuff  in  the  same  manner.  The}-  brought,  chiefly,  fur  pelts 
and  occasionally  a  deer  or  bear  cub  which  the  settlers  bought  for 
fresh  meat.  As  time  went  on  and  the  products  of  the  farms 
became  larger,  the  wheat  would  be  kept  till  the  winter  and  then 
it  would  be  brought  to  town  on  sleds.  It  was  stored  with  the 
storekeeper  who  sold  it  to  the  best  advantage  in  the  spring,  giving 
the  farmer  credit  for  the  sale,  less  the  commission,  and  the  farmer 
would  usually  trade  it  out.  There  were  not  many  money  sales  in 
those  days  at  the  stores.  As  a  rule  the  people  raised  and  fattened 
their  own  pork  and  beef,  but  in  the  case  of  persons  who  did  not 
possess  the  land  upon  which  to  raise  the  corn,  nor  the  means  of 
purchasing  from  those  who  had  it,  the  Indians'  love  of  sweet  and 
gaudy  things  would  be  taken  advantage  of.  A  quantity  of  sweet 
cakes  would  be  baked  and  a  few  little  bright  colored  pieces  of 
cloth  taken  in  a  canoe  up  the  river  to  a  Castle,  or  one  of  the 
smaller  Indian  villages,  and  these  would  be  bartered  with  the 
Indians  for  corn.  Of  course  the  white  man  obtained  the  better 
of  the  bargain,  as  he  always  has  done  with  the  Indian,  and  a  canoe 
load  of  corn  would  be  purchased  with  material  which  was 
probably  not  actually  worth  one-tenth  as  much  as  the  corn. 

"FIRE!  FIRE! 

The  first  fire-fighting  apparatus  of  Schenectady  was  purchased 
in  1764,  when  the  Colonial  Legislature  passed  a  bill  authorizing 
Schenectady  to  spend  ±82 — $205 — for  the  purchase  of  a  "fire 
engine,"  one  of  those  pumping  devices  seemingly  designed  for 
breaking  men's  hearts  and  backs.    This  "fire  engine"  was  not  like 


280  Old  Schenectady. 

the  more  modern  one  of  a  hundred  years  later.  The  modern 
engine  could  suck  its  water  from  a  well  or  cistern,  but  that  of  1764 
required  two  sets  of  fire  workers ;  one  to  man  the  breaks  and  the 
other  to  carry  water  in  buckets  from  the  nearest  supply  and  dump 
it  into  the  tank  of  the  engine.  Why  it  would  not  have  saved  time 
and  strength  to  throw  the  water  immediately  upon  the  fire,  instead 
of  into  the  tank  of  the  "fire  engine,"  is  a  mystery  as  great  as 
Ann's  age. 

*     *     * 

A  PROPHESY  FULFILLED. 

An  odd  fulfillment  of  a  prophesy  is  told  in  the  following 
reminiscence  of  1745.  Jan  Schermerhorn  was  taking  a  stroll 
one  evening,  smoking  his  pipe  and  thinking  of  anything  but 
Indians  when  he  was  suddenly  grabbed  from  behind.  The  old 
man  was  speechless  with  fright  till  he  found  that  his  captor  was 
his  son-in-law,  Klaus  Viele,  who  had  played  a  practical  joke  upon 
him.  His  terror  immediately  became  rage  and  he  exclaimed  111 
Dutch:  "You  cursed  son  of  the  camp !  It  will  come  home  to  you." 
On  the  second  day  after  the  evening  when  the  "joke"  was  played, 
Klaus  was  captured  by  Indians  from  Canada.  It  had  indeed 
"come  home  to  him."  The  Viele  home  and  farm  was  on  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Mohawk  river,  near  the  second  lock  of  the 
Erie  canal,  about  four  miles  west  of  the  city.  The  Indians  were 
first  seen  by  a  slave  named  Jack,  who  was  plowing  in  a  field  not 
far  from  the  house.  He  had  sufficient  self-possession  not  to  let  it 
be  seen  that  he  had  discovered  them,  but  continued  the  furrow  and 
turned  back  toward  the  house.  As  soon  as  he  reached  the  end  of 
the  furrow  in  that  direction,  he  left  the  horses  and  ran  at  top 
speed  for  the  house  and  gave  the  alarm.  Cornelius  Viele  and 
the  members  of  the  family  fastened  the  heavy  doors  and  window 
shutters  and  made  a  determined  resistance,  one  of  the  Indians 
being  shot  dead  by  Mr.  Viele.  Klaus,  who  was  working  in  a 
field  on  an  island,  hearing  the  shot,  started  for  his  home  and  was 
captured.     He  was  taken  up  the  river  two  miles  when  they  saw 


Reminiscences.  281 

Simon  Groot  and  another  man  working  in  a  field  along  the  river. 
Both  these  men  attempted  to  escape  by  swimming  the  river,  but 
Groot  was  shot  dead  in  midstream,  while  his  companion  escaped. 
After  Klaus  Viele  and  the  Indians  arrived  in  Canada,  Klaus  was 
whipped  and  forced  to  run  the  gauntlet.  He  was  then  adopted 
by  the  family  of  the  Indian  whom  his  father  had  killed  and  lived 
with  them  for  four  years.     And  so  the  prophesy  was  fulfilled. 

*  *     * 

DOWN  HILL. 

According  to  tradition,  the  early  settlers  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  diat  portion  of  harness  called  the  breeching.  The 
manner  of  holding  a  wagon  back  on  a  down  grade  was  by  cutting 
a  sapling  with  a  large  supply  of  branches  and  tying  it  to  the 
back  of  the  wagon  to  act  as  a  drag.  Every  wagon  was  supplied 
with  an  ax  and  rope  for  this  purpose. 

*  *     * 

A  FORGOTTEN  FORT. 

There  was  a  small  fort  or  blockhouse,  built  by  the  people 
of  Schenectady  in  1744,  about  which  little  is  known.  There  seems 
to  be  no  record  of  it  in  any  of  the  histories,  but  Dr.  Daniel  Toll 
gives  a  description  of  it  in  an  unpublished  manuscript.  He  was 
born  about  1776  and  therefore,  even  if  the  little  fort  was  not  in 
existence  in  his  boyhood,  those  who  knew  all  about  it  and  who 
helped  build  it  were  living  and  gave  him  an  account  of  it,  so  he 
could  write  with  authority.  This  fort  was  built  at  a  place  which 
the  Dutch  settlers  called,  "Schoullen  Bosche"  which  means,  "hide 
in  the  wood,"  and  is  now  known  as  Schermerhorn's  mill. 
It  was  made  of  massive  timbers  covered  with  plank  four 
inches  thick,  thus  making  it  proof  against  any  rifle  or  musket 
bullet  of  those  days.  The  first  story  was  12  feet  square  and  8  feet 
high.  The  second  story  projected  over  the  first  four  feet  on  each 
of  its  four  sides.    There  were  two  loopholes  on  each  side  and  eight 


282  Old  Schenectady. 

in  the  projecting  floor.  These  latter  were  to  keep  the  attack- 
ing party  from  setting  fire  to  the  building.  The  lower  floor 
had  no  openings  of  any  kind,  other  than  the  door  and  this 
was  massive  and  fastened  inside  by  great  bars  of  wood.  The 
high  roof  was  of  so  steep  a  pitch  that  the  chance  of  a  fire  brand 
remaining  upon  it  was  slight.  The  purpose  of  this  fort,  or  more 
properly  blockhouse,  was  for  temporary  refuge  for  the  nearby 
families  upon  sudden  attack.  The  fort  was  moved  several  times. 
As  the  number  of  houses  increased,  so  that  their  very  number 
was  a  protection,  the  fort  was  moved  to  a  more  exposed  and  less 
thickly  populated  district. 

THE  "POUND  YORK." 

When  money  values  have  been  spoken  of  in  this  book  as 
pounds,  the  Pound  York  was  meant  and  not  the  Pound  Sterling. 
The  Pound  York  was  nominally  $2.50,  while  the  Pound  Sterling, 
was  nominally,  as  it  is  now,  $5. 

*     *     * 

TIME,  4:19. 

Schenectady  has  been  the  home  of  horse-men  and  races  for 
150  years.  In  the  old  days  the  races  were  between  neighbors, 
usually  those  who  were  sufficiently  well  off  to  be  able  to  keep 
driving  horses.  The  course  was  generally  on  Front  or  Green 
streets,  the  stake  usually  being  supper  for  "the  crowd,"  paid 
for  by  the  loser.  Occasionally  there  would  be  a  purse  for  a 
small  amount.  The  races  in  summer  were  running  races,  but  in  the 
winter,  when  the  ice  of  the  river  was  in  good  condition,  the  horses 
were  driven  in  front  of  sleighs.  Stop  watches  were  not  a  neces- 
sity with  the  great-great  granddaddies  of  the  present  generation 
of  Dorpians,  for  a  quarter  of  a  minute  was  sufficiently  accurate, 
so  the  timing  could  be  done  with  the  old  fashioned  "turnip"  or 
even  a  clock.  The  sport  was  probably  more  enjoyed  than  it  is 
to-day  for  the  contests  were  between  acquaintances  and  being 


Re 


mimscenccs. 


283 


devoid  of  the  gambling-  element,  it  was  sport.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  the  wealthier  citizens,  who  owned  "fast"  horses  of  which 
they  were  especially  proud,  would  have  something"  painted  upon 
the  backs  of  their  sleighs  which  the  neighbors  knew  was  a  picture 
of  the  favorite  horse  and  which  strangers  discovered  was  a  horse, 
because  the  painting  would  be  labelled  with  that  fact. 


THE  ORIGINAL  SHIP  CANAL. 

That  the  parent  of  the  $101,000,000  1000-ton  barge  canal 
between  the  Hudson  river  and  the  Great  Lakes  was  born  in 
Schenectady,  the  conception  of  the  brain  of  a  Schenectadian,  is  as 
unknown  as  are  the  inhabitants  of  Mars. 

As  early  as  1821  Dr.  Daniel  J.  Toll,  a  descendant  of  Karel 
Haensen  Toll,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Schenectady  in  1684, 
began  to  write  upon  the  subject  of  constructing  a  canal  for  sailing 
vessels  and  later  steamboats,  between  the  falls  at  Cohoes  and 
Lake  Ontario,  by  way  of  the  Mohawk  river,  Oneida  Lake  and 
the  Oswego  river.  Dr.  Toll's  idea  as  set  forth  by  himself,  will 
be  easily  comprehended  by  glancing  at  the  reproduction  of  the 
map  never  before  published. 


iZJL'S 

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Original  Plan  for  using  the  Mohawk   River  as  a   Ship   Canal. 


284  Old  Schenectady. 

To  fully  understand  Dr.  Toll's  plan,  it  must  be  known  that 
the  Mohawk  in  1821  was  broken  up  by  rapids,  even  more  than  it 
is  now,  at  intervals  of  several  miles,  in  some  parts,  and  of  shorter 
stretches  in  others.    In  his  description,  Dr.  Toll  says : 

"The  average  height  of  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk  river  above 
low  water  is  12  feet  and  the  fall  at  the  rapids  is  from  one  to 
three  feet,  with  a  natural  basin  above  the  rapids  of  a  depth  of 
six  to  seven  feet.  At  the  head  of  each  rapids  construct  a  dam 
five  or  six  feet  high,  which  will  give  a  slack-water  basin  of  from 
10  to  12  feet  in  depth,  and  still  leave  the  banks  sufficiently  above 
the  surface.  The  basins  above  the  dams  are  to  be  connected  with 
the  basins  below,  by  means  of  short  canals  starting  above  the 
dams  and  ending  just  below  them  in  locks."  Among  the  many 
advantages  predicted  by  Dr.  Toll  were ;  "the  possibility  of  journey- 
ing from  New  York  to  the  village  of  Utica  in  24  hours,  whereas 
now  the  usual  time  of  passage  between  Schenectady  and  Utica, 
by  canal  packet,  is  from  24  to  28  hours ;  great  encouragement  to 
agricultural,  and  manufacturing  enterprise  by  reducing  the  cost 
and  time  of  transportation  from  the  farms  and  villages  in  the 
Mohawk  valley  to  the  great  market  of  New  York  City."  Dr. 
Toll  was  convinced  that  the  Mohawk  valley  "would  be  turned  into 
one  continuous  manufacturing  village." 

It  is  a  rather  odd  fact  that,  three  score  and  ten  years  after 
Dr.  Toll  drew  his  map,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
appropriated  $101,000,000  to  carry  out  his  ideas  on  a  much 
grander  scale. 

AN  EARLY  LYNCHING. 

It  is  a  rather  odd  fact  that  in  1756,  in  Schenectady,  an  Indian, 
known  by  the  the  name  of  "Jerry,"  was  lynched.  It  was  he  who 
had  betrayed  General  Braddock  to  the  French  and  Indians,  at  the 
place  of  the  historical  "defeat,"  near  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania. 
This  "Jerry"  was  seen  in  Schenectady  by  some  one  who  knew  him. 
An  alarm  was  o-iven  and  the  Indian  was  chased.     He  was  found 


Reminiscences.  285 

in  the  evening-,  hiding-  in  the  cellar  of  Harman  Van  Slyck.  He 
was  taken  several  miles  up  the  river,  on  the  south  side,  and  killed. 
His  head  was  cut  off  and  exposed  on  a  pole,  just  outside  the 
stockade  along  Ferry  street.  As  soon  as  captured,  the  Indian 
began  to  sing  his  death  song  and  continued  to  do  so  till  he  was 
killed. 


WHIPPING  POST  AND  STOCKS. 

Before  the  Revolution,  one  form  of  punishment  by  the  courts, 
for  minor  offences,  was  the  whipping  post  and  another  was  the 
stocks.  If  a  man  borrowed  a  neighbor's  hen  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  ornothological  anatomy,  he  was  whipped.  If  a  party  of 
young  "bloods"  gazed  too  deeply  in  the  wine  cup,  and  broke 
windows  in  the  houses  of  the  citizens,  as  a  pastime,  they  were 
put  in  the  stocks,  where,  with  their  ankles  and  wrists  securely 
fastened  between  massive  blocks  of  wood,  they  were  jeered  at 
and  pelted  with  mud  by  the  street  urchins.  The  whipping  post 
and  stocks  of  Schenectady  were  situated  by  the  "watch-house" 
which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  first  Dutch  Church,  near  the  bronze 
tablet,  at  the  junction  of  State  and  Church  streets.  The  greater 
number  of  culprits  were  the  soldiers  who  occupied  the  barracks. 
It  was  one  of  the  sights  indulged  in  by  many  citizens,  the  going 
to  the  post  to  see  a  soldier  whipped. 

*     *     * 
CHURCH  MONEY. 

Just  after  the  Revolution,  about  1790,  there  was  a  great 
scarcity  of  small  change.  This  was  not  only  an  inconvenience, 
but  also  materially  reduced  the  receipts  when  the  collections  were 
taken  up  in  the  First  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  the  people  actually 
feeling,  or  making  it  an  excuse,  that  they  had  no  change  and  could 
not  afford  to  give  a  large  piece  of  money  or  a  bill.  Now  the 
Dutchman  was  the  only  rival  of  the  Yankee  in  the  matter  of 
thrift  and  was  almost  the  equal  of  the  Scot.     So  the  members  of 


286 


Old  Schenectady. 


the  consistory  rilled  and  lighted  their  think-producers  and  puffed 
away  in  silence  till  one  of  the  number  suggested  that  the  people 
deposit  with  the  deacons  of  the  Church  their  large  bills  and  coin 


Paper  Money  Issued   by  the   Dutch   Church   in   1790. 


and  that  the  consistory  should  issue  therefore  notes  of  a  value  of 
one,  two,  three  and  six  pence.  The  first  issue  was  for  £100  and 
the  notes  were  printed,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  by  C.  R.  and  G. 
Webster,  of  Albany. 


EARLY  BEVERAGES. 

It  is  rather  odd  that  in  all  of  the  many  items  of  expense  found 
in  the  old  Dutch  records,  for  liquor  in  Schenectady  County,  both 
public  and  private,  not  once  is  a  charge  for  the  national  drink, 
"Schnapps"  or  Holland  gin,  recorded.  The  item  is  generally  rum, 
sometimes  wine,  and  once  in  awhile  brandy. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  DIKE. 

The  dike  connecting  Schenectady  with  the  village  of  Scotia 
is  two  or  three  years  the  junior  of  the  old  wooden  bridge  which 
preceded  the  present  decrepit,  although  not  old,  iron  bridge.  Up 
to  1811,  the  road  from  Scotia  to  the  bridge  was  across  the  flat. 
When  the  Mohawk  river  was  high  and  the  flats  flooded,  there  was 
no  communication  between  Scotia  and  the  city.     Floods  were  not 


Reminiscences.  287 

so  frequent  nor  so  great  in  those  days  as  they  are  now,  nor  did 
the  river  fall  so  low  as  it  does  now.  Both  of  these  conditions 
were  due  to  the  forests  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  river  and 
up  north  toward  the  Adirondack^  and  south  along  Schoharie 
Creek.  The  woods  kept  the  snow  from  melting  as  fast  as  it  does 
now  and  also  held  sufficient  moisture  in  the  summer  months  to 
keep  thousands  of  springs  and  scores  of  brooks  and  larger  streams 
alive,  which  have  disappeared,  in  the  case  of  the  springs,  and  are 
dry  for  a  part  of  the  year  in  the  case  of  the  hrooks  and  streams. 
To  return  to  the  dike  ;  the  conditions  were  such  and  the  traveling 
so  great  that  in  1811,  bids  were  advertised  and  the  contract  let 
to  John  Sanders,  of  Scotia,  for  $1,500.  The  earth  for  the  dike 
was  scraped  up  from  the  flat  land  along  the  dike  on  both  sides 
and  this  was  topped  with  gravel.  On  the  river  bank,  at  the  foot 
of  the  low  bluff  upon  which  the  Sanders  mansion  stands,  is  a  few 
hundred  feet  of  a  dike.  This  was  built  before  the  Revolution  to 
protect  the  flat  land  from  being  washed  away  by  the  river.  The 
dike  built  by  Mr.  Sanders  was  to  be  two  feet  higher  than  the 
"Deborah  Glen  dike,"  as  it  is  known  in  the  Glen-Sanders  family. 
The  dike  was  fenced  on  both  sides,  as  the  law  required  all 
property  to  be  fenced  in  those  days,  and  for  many  years  thereafter, 
and  on  either  side  was  a  row  of  Xormandy  poplars.  The  dike 
was  really  most  attractive  in  the  days  when  these  fine  trees 
flourished.  They  were  finally  cut  down  as  the  shade  prevented 
the  sun  from  drawing  the  frost  out  of  the  ground,  and  in  wet 
weather,  their  shade  kept  the  mud  from  drying.  There  was  no 
walk  on  the  dike  till  1867.  Before  that  year,  persons  who  crossed 
on  foot  walked  in  the  middle  of  the  road  except  when  the  mud 
was  deep,  then  they  skinned  along  on  the  fence  and  in  time, 
boards  were  pulled  from  the  fence  in  places  to  walk  upon.  In 
1867,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  pastor  of  the  Scotia  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,  took  up  the  matter  of  a  plank  walk  and  secured  sufficient 
money  for  its  construction.  This  walk  was  on  the  south  side  of 
the  dike  as  was  the  narrow  stone  walk  which  was  moved  across 
the  dike  by  the  General  Electric  Company  when  it  built  the  trolley 


288  Old  Schenectady. 

line.  The  dike  was  a  part  of  the  Mohawk  Turnpike  Company's 
property,  as  was  also  the  old  wooden  bridge,  till  1835,  when  the 
Schenectady  and  Utica  Railroad  was  forced  to  buy  it  in  order  to 
obtain  a  right  of  way.  The  deed  required  the  railroad  company 
to  keep  the  turnpike  in  repair  for  its  entire  length  and  this,  it 
and  its  successor,  the  New  York  Central,  did  till  about  1880,  when 
the  road  was  abandoned. 

*  *     * 

WASHINGTON  IN  SCHENECTADY. 

The  two  stories  of  George  Washington  that  are  best  known 
are  the  famous  hatchet  and  cherry-tree  story  and  the  other  equally 
famous  one  of  the  time  when  he  was  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Continental  Armies, when,  tradition  has  it,  according  to  one  his- 
torian of  Schenectady,  Washington  and  an  acquaintance  were 
walking  on  one  of  the  streets  of  Schenectady,  and  were  met  by  a 
negro  slave  who  removed  his  hat  and  bowed  profoundly.  Wash- 
ington returned  the  salute  in  kind  and  was  questioned  by  his  com- 
panion as  to  the  advisability  of  recognizing  a  slave,  whereupon 
Washington  replied,  "I  cannot  permit  a  poor  negro  to  be  more 
polite  than  I." 

*  *     * 

A  COLONIAL  FESTIVAL. 
Next  to  New  Year's  day,  Paus  and  Pinkster  were  the  most 
popular  and  generally  observed  holidays  of  the  old  Dutch.  Paus 
was  Easter  and  Pinkster  was  Whitsunday.  Pinkster  was  particu- 
larly a  gala  day,  when  young  and  old  gave  themselves  up  to  jollity 
and  boisterous  fun.  The  joys  of  tbe  day  began  in  the  morning 
with  sports,  out-of-door  games  and  contests  and  ended,  late  at 
night,  with  indoor  games  and  dancing.  There  was  "egg  butting," 
a  custom  that  is  observed  to-day  at  the  Capital  in  Washington, 
only  it  is  called  "egg  rolling;"  and  "riding  at  the  ring."  The 
latter  sport  was  probably  a  rural  adaptation  of  the  tournaments 
of  the  days  of  Chivalry.  The  necessary  arrangements  were  a 
cord  tied  across  the  road,  just  above  the  heads  of  men  on  horse- 


Reminiscences.  289 

back.  From  this  cord  was  suspended  by  a  short  string,  a  finger 
ring.  Each  horseman  was  provided  with  a  short  sharp-pointed 
stick  about  the  size  of  a  meat  skewer,  which  was  held  between 
the  first  finger  and  thumb.  The  competitors  were  obliged  to  ride 
at  full  gallop  under  the  cord  and  attempt  to  thrust  their  "lances" 
through  the  ring  and  carry  it  off  three  times.  When  one  of  the 
contestants  had  accomplished  this,  he  was  chased  by  all  the  other 
■contestants.  If  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  goal,  without  being 
caught,  he  was  the  winner.  The  prize  was  the  payment  by  the 
other  contestants  of  the  bill  for  himself  and  his  "best  girl"  at  the 
dance  and  supper  to  be  given  in  the  evening.  If,  however,  he 
was  caught,  he  was  obliged  to  foot  the  bill  for  his  captor  and  his 
"best  girl.'*  For  a  week  before  Pinkster,  the  inhabitants,  black  and 
white,  began  to  make  ready  for  the  festival  by  erecting  booths  of 
boughs  on  Albany  hill,  from  the  most  thickly  leaved  trees  and 
bushes.  (Albany  hill  is  frequently  referred  to  in  old  manuscripts 
and,  although  it  is  nowhere  definitely  fixed,  it  was  probably  at  the 
top  of  the  hill  on  State  street,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hulett 
street.)  In  these  rustic  booths  the  tables  were  set  with  good 
things  to  eat  and  drink.  Besides  the  "egg  butting"  and  "riding 
at  the  ring"  there  were  impromptu  horse  races,  wrestling  matches 
and  occasional  "scraps."  The  music  for  dancing  was  provided 
by  the  fiddle  and  Jew's  harp.  Pinkster  was  a  great  occasion  for 
the  slaves.  On  this  day  they  were  granted  unusual  liberty  to 
enjoy  themselves  according  to  their  own  ideas.  One  way  of  doing 
so  was  a  dance  which  was  no  doubt  a  relic  of  one  of  the  many 
religious  dances  brought  from  Africa  by  the  captured  slaves.  The 
music  was  obtained  from  a  huge  drum-like  instrument,  four  or 
five  feet  long  and  a  foot  in  diameter,  covered  at  either  end  by  a 
tightly-stretched  sheep's  skin.  This  was  held  between  the  legs 
of  the  largest  and  oldest  slave  in  the  community.  This  drum  he 
would  beat  with  palm  and  fingers  and  all  the  time  he  would  sing  a 
wordless,  droning  song  which,  as  the  excitement  increased,  would 
become  wild  and  wierd  and  was  accompanied  by  muscular  con- 
tortions, waecfins:  and  twisting  of  the  head  and  rolling  of  the 


2oo  Old  Schenectady. 

eyes.  One  after  another  of  the  slaves  would  join  in  the  dance, 
as  the  spirit  moved  him  or  her,  to  do  so,  till  the  musician  was 
surrounded  by  a  ring-  of  black  and  yellow  twisting,  wriggling 
histerical  slaves  who,  for  the  time,  were  thousands  of  miles  away 
in  the  heart  of  superstitious  Africa.  One  by  one  they  would  fall 
to  the  ground  exhausted  when  their  places  would  be  taken  by 
others,  who  were  just  beginning  to  feel  the  moving  of  the  spirit. 
It  was  not  unusual  for  this  wild  dance  to  continue  through  two 
days. 

BURNT  AT  THE  STAKE. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  only  one  person  was  ever 
executed  in  Schenectady  by  being  burnt  at  the  stake.  This  was  in 
1740,  when  a  slave  belonging  to  Simon  Toll,  was  burnt  for  the 
crime  of  arson.  The  execution  took  place  on  the  Albany  turn- 
pike— now  State  street — at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 


THE  NOVELTY  WORKS. 

The  remains  of  the  "Old  Fort"  is  as  popular  a  place  for  a 
Sunday  afternoon  walk  for  the  boys  and  girls  of  to-day  as  was 
"Old  Fort"  itself  for  their  parents.  It  was  situated  about  a  mile 
north  from  the  center  of  the  village  of  Scotia,  between  the  \  ly 
road  and  the  Central-Hudson  railroad.  It  was  originally  the 
home  of  Clausia  Veeder,  his  wife  and  son  Abe.  Clausia  was  a 
veteran  of  the  Revolution  and  a  man  of  good  family,  he  being  one 
of  the  Veeders  of  Schenectady  County.  After  the  death  of  his 
wife,  the  house  was  permitted  to  go  to  rack  and  ruin  and  the 
habits  of  himself  and  his  son  followed  the  lead  of  the  house. 
Clausia,  the  old  soldier,  was  the  piece  de  resistance  of  the  Fourth 
of  July  parades  for  many  years.  While  the  prominent  part  he 
took  in  the  celebration  of  the  Nation's  birth-day  was  a  source  of 
pride  to  the  old  man,  it  was,  at  the  same  time  a  period  of  distress, 
for  he  was  always  ill  after  it.  The  day  before  the  Fourth  the  Com- 


Reminiscences.  291 

mittee  in  charge  of  the  celebration  sent  some  one  to  the  Fort  to 
give  Clansia  a  scrubbing  for  the  occasion.  As  this  scrubbing 
occurred  but  once  a  year  it  was  always  too  much  for  the  old  man 
and  he  was  ill  for  several  days  thereafter.  After  the  accumula- 
tions of  twelve  months  had  been  removed  and  the  old  fellow's 
face  freed  from  its  stubby  beard,  he  would  dress  himself  in  his 
Continental  unifrom  and,  with  his  musket  which  had  killed 
"Britishers,"  would  head  the  procession  in  a  carriage  especially 
provided  for  him.  He  died  at  the  great  age  of  10 1.  During  his 
last  sickness  a  hen  belonging  to  the  estate  chose  one  corner  of  the 
foot  of  the  old  man's  bed  for  a  nest  in  which  to  raise  her  brood  of 
chicks.  Biddy  was  undisturbed  and  a  few  days  after  the  old 
man's  death  she  strutted  proudly  forth  with  a  family  of  yellow, 
downy  chicks.  Abe,  the  son,  was  well  educated  and  taught  school 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  something  of  a  dandy  and  particu- 
lar about  his  manners.  His  coat  and  waistcoat  buttons  were 
made  of  silver  quarter  dollars  and  dimes  polished  till  they  shown. 
Several  years  before  the  death  of  his  father  he  became  eccentric 
and  toward  the  last  of  his  days  he  became  decidedly  "niffy"  in 
person  and  habits.  He  prided  himself  upon  his  eccentricity  and 
delighted  in  doing  things  as  no  one  else  ever  did  them.  The  idea 
of  the  Fort  originated  with  Abe  after  the  death  of  his  father.  He 
banked  up  the  lower  story  of  the  house,  cut  holes  in  the  upper 
iloor  walls  to  represent  loop-holes,  filled  the  house  with  Revolu- 
tionary arms  and  relics  and  curiosities  and  called  it  "The  Fort." 
After  the  death  of  the  old  man  he  closed  the  lower  floor  of  the 
house  where  he  died,  as  he  was  afraid  of  his  father's  spook. 
Finally  his  fear  became  so  great  that  he  would  not  sleep  in  the 
house  at  all  but  constructed  a  hovel  partly  under  ground  where 
he  lived.  This  contained  more  curiosities  and  was  called  by  him 
"The  Great  American  Novelty  Works."  This  hovel  was  a 
rendezvous  for  local  bums  and  tramps  from  afar  whom  he  induced 
to  stop  there  to  protect  him  from  "Thy  father's  ghost."  These 
unwashed  socialists  slept  on  the  ground  floor  and  Abe  slept  in  the 
attic  which  he  entered  by  means  of  a  trap-door.     This  door  was 


292  Old  Schenectady. 

carefully  closed  down  and  then  Abe  made  his  bed  upon  it  so  that 
the  spook  guards  below  could  not  enter  without  awakening"  him. 
Just  before  and  in  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War  a  Sunday  visit 
to  The  Old  Fort  and  The  Great  American  Novelty  Works  was  in 
vogue.  The  Central-Hudson  ran  a  special  train  from  the  city  to 
the  place  and  later  in  the  day  carried  them  back.  Among  the 
sights  of  the  place  was  the  bed  upon  which  his  father  died  and 
the  hen's  nest  filled  with  the  broken  egg  shells.  On  the  wall  over 
the  bed  was  daubed  the  legend ;  "The  death  bed  of  a  hero."  Each 
of  the  apple  trees  in  Abe's  orchard  was  provided  with  a  long  pole 
so  that  persons  who  wished  to  steal  his  apples  could  do  so  "with- 
out injuring  the  fruit  or  themselves  with  the  stones  thrown  to 
dislodge  it."  In  the  potato  patch  were  several  potato  diggers  so 
that  those  persons  who  wished  to  steal  his  potatoes  could  "dig 
a  hill  clean  instead  of  pulling  up  the  vines  and  wasting  half  the 
potatoes  in  the  hills."  One  of  his  fads  was  worn-out  tin  ware, 
specimens  of  which  he  annexed,  begged  or  purchased  in  large 
quantities.  As  late  as  1900  there  was  a  pile  of  old  tin  ware  five 
feet  high  and  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  diameter.  Some  of  this  he 
placed  on  top  of  a  huge  fire  which  melted  the  solder.  This  he 
gathered  and  sold  and  the  tin  was  used  to  cover  the  leaking  roof. 
Abe  went  to  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Philadelphia  and 
remained  for  a  week  on  a  capital  of  $5.  He  saw  more  and  could 
converse  more  interestingly  and  intelligently  than  could  half  the 
persons  who  spent  twenty  times  that  sum  for  a  week's  visit.  Before 
he  went  he  acquired  all  possible  information  in  regard  to  rules 
and  regulations.  The  Centennial  Exposition  grounds  were  not 
open  at  night.  At  a  certain  hour  signals  were  sounded  when 
everyone  was  obliged  to  leave  the  grounds.  Instead  of  going 
with  the  crowd,  Abe  secreted  himself  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
grounds  and  was  eventually  found  by  one  of  the  policemen  and 
locked  up  for  the  night.  This  was  just  what  he  expected  and 
wished  for,  as  it  would  eliminate  the  necessity  of  paying  for  a 
lodging.  Being  a  man  of  good  education  and  giving  a  straight 
account  of  himself,  the  authorities  sized  him  up  as  an  eccentric 


Reminiscences.  293 

character  and  so  treated  him  with  kindness  and  respect.  In  the 
morning  he  was  given  an  excellent  breakfast  and  turned  loose  in 
the  grounds.  Thus,  for  the  price  of  one  admission  to  the  grounds 
he  had  obtained  two  day's  admission,  a  night's  lodging  and  his 
breakfast.  Abe  worked  this  scheme  successfully  for  two  or  three 
times,  when  the  authorities  "became  wise"  and  turned  him  out 
at  night  instead  of  locking  him  up.  Abe  was  a  very  cautious  man, 
especially  so  with  respect  to  the  railroad  cars,  and  yet,  strangely 
enough,  he  was  killed  by  the  cars  while  walking  on  the  tracks 
between  the  city  and  the  Fort,  in  a  dense  fog,  in  1891.  Abe 
Yeeder  was  a  misfit  citizen.  He  never  found  the  particular  niche 
that  was  especially  hewed  out  for  him  in  this  life.  Had  he  found 
it  he  would  probably,  with  his  birth  and  education,  have  been  a 
prominent  and  useful  citizen  instead  of  a  mere  eccentric. 

ONCE  A  PRISON. 
Van  Slyck  Island,  just  above  the  bridge  between  Schenectady 
and  Scotia,  was  once  the  place  of  imprisonment  for  a  number  of 
French  soldiers  who  had  surrendered  to  General  Prideaux  at  Fort 
Niagara. 

FREDERICK  YISSCHER. 
Colonel  Frederick  Yisscher  was  not  an  early  settler  of 
Schenectady,  but  he  and  his  family  lived  in  Schenectady  while 
the  Revolution  was  in  progress  and  after  peace  had  been  declared, 
so  (he  being  a  remarkable  man  in  private  life  and  as  an  officer  of 
the  Continental  army,  possessed  of  splendid  courage)  Schenectady 
may  claim  him  as  an  adopted  son.  His  life  as  a  soldier  was  filled 
with  stirring  incident  and  tragedy.  He  had  many  terrible  ex- 
periences and  showed  such  determination  and  bravery,  that  some 
of  them  are  recorded  here.  The  incidents  are  based  upon  history, 
giving  a  general  account  of  them  and  upon  the  more  detailed 
verbal  account  by  one  of  his  sisters,  many  years  ago  to  a 
descendant  of  the  Glens  and  Van  Rensselaers. 


294  Old  Schenectady. 

At  the  beginning'  of  the  Revolution  Captain  Frederick 
Visscher  was  in  command  of  a  company  of  militia  upon  which 
he  was  expending  his  best  attention,  so  that  they  should  be  well 
drilled  and  ready  for  any  emergency. 

( )ne  day,  at  Caughnawaga,  as  Captain  Visscher  was  drilling 
his  men,  Sir  John  Johnson  was  seen  driving  in  his  carriage 
rapidly  upon  the  parade  ground,  toward  the  Captain  and  his  men. 
Sir  John  was  the  degenerate  son  of  fine  old  Sir  William  Johnson, 
who,  had  he  lived,  would  doubtless  have  stood  by  the  Colonies, 
but  Sir  John  and  "that  infamous  Butler"  were  Tories,  who 
delighted  in  torturing  and  butchering  their  acquaintances  and 
neighbors. 

Sir  John  demanded;  "By  whose  orders  are  these  men 
assembled  here?" 

"By  mine,"  replied  Captain  Visscher.  Sir  John  then  ordered 
them  to  disperse  in  the  name  of  the  King,  but  Visscher  absolutely 
refused  to  permit  them  to  do  so.  Sir  John  was  enraged  and, 
drawing  his  pistol,  pointed  it  at  Captain  Visscher's  head  and 
shouted:  "if  you  don't  disperse  those  damned  rebels  I  will  blow 
your  brains  out."  The  last  word  was  no  more  than  uttered,  than 
Sir  John  heard  the  lock  of  a  rifle  click  and  saw  one  of  the  soldiers 
take  deliberate  aim  at  him  and  then  the  other  members  of  the 
company  did  the  same.  While  Sir  John  was  a  bully  with  the 
instincts  of  a  blackguard,  he  was  not  a  coward,  but  these  rifles 
were  too  much  for  him.  He  put  up  his  pistol  and  drove  away 
with  curses  upon  the  rebels  and  their  cause. 

When  he  had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  regiment, 
Colonel  Visscher  was  ordered  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Stanwix,  later 
Fort  Schuyler  and  now  the  city  of  Rome.  After  the  fight,  hearing 
that  the  enemy  was  approaching  his  home,  he  sent  his  wife  and 
children  to  Schenectady  and  was  making  arrangements  for 
moving  his  mother  and  two  sisters,  when  the  mansion  at  Caugh- 
nawaga, was  attacked  by  six  Indians.  The  home  was  so  well  and 
hotly  defended  by  Colonel  Visscher  and  his  two  brothers,  that 
the   Indians  withdrew.     At  the  break  of  day  they  returned  in 


Reminiscences.  ■    295 

greater  numbers,  broke  down  the  barricaded  door  and  drove  the 
family,  righting-,  to  the  attic  where  the  three  brothers  fought  the 
Indians  hand-to-hand.  While  this  terrific  tight  was  going  on, 
Mrs.  Visscher  and  her  two  daughters  tried  to  escape  down  the 
stairs.  ( )ne  of  the  Indians  knocked  Mrs.  Visscher  senseless  with 
the  butt  of  his  musket,  but  the  young  ladies  were  allowed  to  reach 
the  yard  unmolested.  There,  one  of  them  was  stripped  of  her 
bonnet  and  shawl  and  ordered  to  "go."  She  needed  no  second 
bidding,  but  ran  to  one  of  the  great  out-of-doors  brick  ovens, 
which  were  much  in  use  in  those  days,  and  hid  in  it.  The  other 
sister  hid  in  some  bushes.  Soon  they  saw  the  Indians  leave  the 
house  and  then  one  of  them  returned  and  re-entered  it,  and,  a 
moment  later  joined  the  others  who  all  went  away.  A  few 
minutes  later  the  sisters  saw  that  the  mansion  was  on  fire. 

To  return  to  the  fight  in  the  attic :  One  of  the  brothers  was 
killed  and  the  other  jumped  out  of  a  window  and  was  killed  by 
the  fall  and  later  scalped.  The  colonel  was  knocked  out  by  two 
blows  from  a  tomahawk  and  his  scalp  was  torn  from  his  head. 
Colonel  Visscher  was  a  man  of  great  vitality.  He  soon  regained 
consciousness  and  hearing  the  Indians  leaving  the  house,  he  raised 
himself  on  his  elbow,  to  see  what  had  been  the  fate  of  his  family. 
He  heard  one  of  the  Indians  returning  up  the  stairs,  so  he  laid 
down  to  feign  death,  but  the  agony  of  his  terrible  wounds  caused 
a  twitching  of  the  muscles.  The  Indian  seeing  that  he  was  still 
alive,  drew  his  knife  across  Colonel  Visscher's  throat  twice  and 
then  joined  his  companions. 

This  was  the  Indian  whom  the  young  ladies  saw  re-enter  the 
house.  It  happened  that  Colonel  Visscher  wore  a  red  and  a 
black  neck-cloth,  the  black  one  being  the  outer.  When  the  Indian 
slashed  his  thoat  he  thought  he  saw  blood  flowing  from  the 
wound,  so  he  departed,  but  it  was  this  red  neck-cloth,  the  actual 
wounds  from  the  knife  being  painful,  but  not  serious.  By  the 
time  the  Indians  had  disappeared,  the  colonel  saw  that  the  house 
was  on  fire.  The  operation  of  scalping  was  a  horrible  one.  A 
cut  was  made  on  a  level  with  the    top  of    the    ears    completely 


296  Old  Schenectady. 

around  the  head,  an  edge  of  the  scalp  was  raised  and  taken 
between  the  teeth  and  torn  away  from  the  head.  The  shock  to  the 
nervous  system  was  so  great  that  scalping  usually  caused  death, 
even  when  there  was  no  other  injury. 

Notwithstanding  his  condition  Colonel  Visscher  immediately 
began  to  remove  the  body  of  his  brother  from  the  burning  house 
and  to  save  his  insensible  mother.  He  succeeded  in  getting  her 
into  a  chair,  in  dragging  it  and  her  to  the  door  of  the  house,  when 
his  agony  caused  him  to  faint.  By  this  time  help  had  arrived 
and  they  were  both  saved  from  the  flames,  but  not  till  the  chair 
in  which  Mrs.  Visscher  laid  was  on  fire.  The  Colonel,  his  mother, 
two  sisters  and  the  bodies  of  his  brothers,  were  taken  down  the 
river  by  a  faithful  slave,  in  a  canoe  to  Schenectady.  Incredible 
as  it  may  seem,  the  colonel  recoverd  and  lived  till  1809.  Several 
years  after  this  frightful  event,  two  Indians  on  their  way  to 
Albany,  stopped  in  Schenectady,  one  of  them  being  the  Indian 
who  had  tomahawked  and  scalped  the  colonel  and,  supposedly, 
cut  his  throat.  This  devil  had  the  nerve  to  try  to  see  Colonel 
Visscher,  as  he  would  not  believe  that  he  was  still  living.  When 
the  colonel  heard  of  it,  he  was  with  difficulty  restrained  from 
killing  the  Indian,  who  immediately  left  for  Albany  with  his  com- 
panion and  never  returned  to  Schenectady  during  Colonel 
Visscher's  life.  The  negro  slave  who  took  the  Yisschers  in  the 
canoe  to  Schenectady,  was  given  his  freedom  and  was  presented 
with  a  handsome  horse  by  his  grateful  master,  Colonel  Visscher. 

*     *     * 

NEW  YEAR'S  GREETING. 
The  old  Dutch  greeting  on  New  Year's  day,  translated  into 
English,  was  "I  wish  you  a  happy  New  Year.     Long  may  you 
live,  much  may  you  give,  happy  may  you  die  and  inherit  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  by  and  by." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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